Beware new wave of anti-Muslim feelings
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:08 am
http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_ar ... cleid=1139
Commentary: Beware new wave of anti-Muslim feelings
by the Rev. Alex Awad
links. more. email. print.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, a wave of anti-Muslim feeling has taken over much of America and is spreading like wildfire among evangelical circles in the United States and other countries.
Officials of respected evangelical denominations and presidents of esteemed Christian organizations have joined the new trend. Some are publicly insulting Islam and its founder, while others are attacking the Quran and those who follow its path.
Christians in general, and evangelicals in particular, would do well to stop and think about where this crusade may be leading us and how it will impact Christian-Muslim relationships around the world. Evangelicals would also do well to consider carefully whether their public, rhetorical war against Muslims would advance or hinder the cause of Christ throughout the Islamic world. Furthermore, Christians might take a fresh look at the history of Muslim-Christian interactions throughout the last 14 centuries before waving a banner in the current anti-Muslim war of words.
During the Middle Ages, Pope Urban II campaigned to unite the various competing armies of Christian Europe in a crusade to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. The pope blessed the Crusades, and the brave fighters of Europe joined to battle what they perceived to be the enemies of God. The church sanctioned the killing of Muslims and other so-called infidels and heretics. Muslim men, women, and children were butchered in great numbers. The crusaders also killed many Jews and non-Latin Christians.
But the sword of Islam turned against the invading armies, and most of the crusaders never saw their homes again. They had killed and were, in turn, slaughtered, all the while deeming that they were fighting for Christ and his church. After 190 years of unspeakable bloodshed, the Muslims recaptured Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land, bringing an end to the Crusades. However, the Crusades left deep wounds in Muslim-Christian relations that have yet to be healed.
Today’s rhetoric of hate against Islam clears the path for tomorrow’s wars against Islamic nations. When our preachers, teachers, TV evangelists and politicians condition us to hate Muslims, they prepare us to kill Muslims or to watch their slaughter without feeling guilt, pity or remorse.
Before getting caught up in the spirit of the season and joining the crusade against Muslims, American Christians today need to learn what Middle Eastern and European Christians learned centuries ago. The lesson is simple: Live in peace with your Muslim neighbors and they will live in peace with you; oppress them and they will fight back. Even if we believe or assume that Islam is evil, are we called to "repay evil for evil" or "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21)?
I have lived most of my life as a member of a small Christian community within a large Islamic population. The church that I now pastor in East Jerusalem is in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood. I know from firsthand experience that most Muslims do not hate Christians.
Most Muslims also have nothing to do with terrorism. The radical factions that are involved in militant acts against Israel or its allies are driven more by political reasons than religious agendas. Palestinians, for example, have wanted for years to be rid of the Israeli occupation of what they perceive as their homeland. They have appealed to the United Nations, and the U.N. has failed them. They have appealed to the superpowers and to Arab states, which also have failed them. Alternately, they have sought the help of more than a thousand peace conferences, but those have not stopped the confiscation of their land and the denial of their human rights. During their struggle, the Palestinians have turned to nonviolent resistance and violent uprisings (intifada), all to no avail.
In utter frustration, some of them have turned to radical Islamic movements. As a last resort, the cry has become: "Islam is the answer." Islamic movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah are relatively new in the long history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nevertheless, most Muslims do not subscribe to these movements. Moreover, we err greatly if we insist on seeing all Muslims in the light of the bloody crimes of Sept. 11 or in view of the dreadful suicide bombings on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
If we want to find the enemy, we must look within us rather than at Islam and Muslims. The enemies of the United States and the Western world are found mainly within the United States and the Western world. Greed, pride, hypocrisy, racism, atheism, moral corruption, xenophobia and social injustices are our worst enemies. These are the sins that make us hate, humiliate, kill, starve whole nations and pollute our planet.
For example, for half a century Arabs and Muslims have been pleading with the West for a just resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead of responding fairly, we have allowed domestic pressures and lobby groups to steer our foreign policy in supporting one side of the conflict against the legitimate rights of the other side, with disastrous consequences. Instead of promoting justice, our intervention has become a factor in complicating and worsening the situation and hindering the cause of peace. Quite often, the arrogance of governments in the West and their unjust policies in the Middle East are the fuel that inflames Islamic fundamentalists.
One out of every five humans is a follower of the Muslim faith. One out of every five humans, each of whom Christ calls us to love as we love ourselves, is a Muslim. Attacking Islam or hating Muslims will not only hinder the cause of Christ in the world, but it will also endanger the lives of Christians who live as minorities in the Islamic world.
The good news is that we do have a criterion to guide us in our treatment of our Muslim neighbors. We find this criterion in the example and teachings of our Lord. As we allow his message of love, forgiveness and humility to shine through us before our Muslim neighbors, they will, as Christ said: " ... see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven." Whether we live at peace with our Muslim neighbors or not depends as much on us as on them.
*Awad is a missionary in the Middle East for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. A Palestinian American, he serves at Bethlehem Bible College.
Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church. However, the United Methodist Church officially condemns prejudice against Muslims and Arabs. For more information, consult the denomination’s 2000 Book of Resolutions, "Prejudice Against Muslims and Arabs in the USA" (p. 193) and "Our Muslim Neighbors" (p. 743).
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This guy raises an excellent point, something I could not have said better myself. This will show Christians on this forum to act like one.
Commentary: Beware new wave of anti-Muslim feelings
by the Rev. Alex Awad
links. more. email. print.
Since Sept. 11, 2001, a wave of anti-Muslim feeling has taken over much of America and is spreading like wildfire among evangelical circles in the United States and other countries.
Officials of respected evangelical denominations and presidents of esteemed Christian organizations have joined the new trend. Some are publicly insulting Islam and its founder, while others are attacking the Quran and those who follow its path.
Christians in general, and evangelicals in particular, would do well to stop and think about where this crusade may be leading us and how it will impact Christian-Muslim relationships around the world. Evangelicals would also do well to consider carefully whether their public, rhetorical war against Muslims would advance or hinder the cause of Christ throughout the Islamic world. Furthermore, Christians might take a fresh look at the history of Muslim-Christian interactions throughout the last 14 centuries before waving a banner in the current anti-Muslim war of words.
During the Middle Ages, Pope Urban II campaigned to unite the various competing armies of Christian Europe in a crusade to liberate Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims. The pope blessed the Crusades, and the brave fighters of Europe joined to battle what they perceived to be the enemies of God. The church sanctioned the killing of Muslims and other so-called infidels and heretics. Muslim men, women, and children were butchered in great numbers. The crusaders also killed many Jews and non-Latin Christians.
But the sword of Islam turned against the invading armies, and most of the crusaders never saw their homes again. They had killed and were, in turn, slaughtered, all the while deeming that they were fighting for Christ and his church. After 190 years of unspeakable bloodshed, the Muslims recaptured Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land, bringing an end to the Crusades. However, the Crusades left deep wounds in Muslim-Christian relations that have yet to be healed.
Today’s rhetoric of hate against Islam clears the path for tomorrow’s wars against Islamic nations. When our preachers, teachers, TV evangelists and politicians condition us to hate Muslims, they prepare us to kill Muslims or to watch their slaughter without feeling guilt, pity or remorse.
Before getting caught up in the spirit of the season and joining the crusade against Muslims, American Christians today need to learn what Middle Eastern and European Christians learned centuries ago. The lesson is simple: Live in peace with your Muslim neighbors and they will live in peace with you; oppress them and they will fight back. Even if we believe or assume that Islam is evil, are we called to "repay evil for evil" or "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21)?
I have lived most of my life as a member of a small Christian community within a large Islamic population. The church that I now pastor in East Jerusalem is in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood. I know from firsthand experience that most Muslims do not hate Christians.
Most Muslims also have nothing to do with terrorism. The radical factions that are involved in militant acts against Israel or its allies are driven more by political reasons than religious agendas. Palestinians, for example, have wanted for years to be rid of the Israeli occupation of what they perceive as their homeland. They have appealed to the United Nations, and the U.N. has failed them. They have appealed to the superpowers and to Arab states, which also have failed them. Alternately, they have sought the help of more than a thousand peace conferences, but those have not stopped the confiscation of their land and the denial of their human rights. During their struggle, the Palestinians have turned to nonviolent resistance and violent uprisings (intifada), all to no avail.
In utter frustration, some of them have turned to radical Islamic movements. As a last resort, the cry has become: "Islam is the answer." Islamic movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah are relatively new in the long history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Nevertheless, most Muslims do not subscribe to these movements. Moreover, we err greatly if we insist on seeing all Muslims in the light of the bloody crimes of Sept. 11 or in view of the dreadful suicide bombings on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
If we want to find the enemy, we must look within us rather than at Islam and Muslims. The enemies of the United States and the Western world are found mainly within the United States and the Western world. Greed, pride, hypocrisy, racism, atheism, moral corruption, xenophobia and social injustices are our worst enemies. These are the sins that make us hate, humiliate, kill, starve whole nations and pollute our planet.
For example, for half a century Arabs and Muslims have been pleading with the West for a just resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Instead of responding fairly, we have allowed domestic pressures and lobby groups to steer our foreign policy in supporting one side of the conflict against the legitimate rights of the other side, with disastrous consequences. Instead of promoting justice, our intervention has become a factor in complicating and worsening the situation and hindering the cause of peace. Quite often, the arrogance of governments in the West and their unjust policies in the Middle East are the fuel that inflames Islamic fundamentalists.
One out of every five humans is a follower of the Muslim faith. One out of every five humans, each of whom Christ calls us to love as we love ourselves, is a Muslim. Attacking Islam or hating Muslims will not only hinder the cause of Christ in the world, but it will also endanger the lives of Christians who live as minorities in the Islamic world.
The good news is that we do have a criterion to guide us in our treatment of our Muslim neighbors. We find this criterion in the example and teachings of our Lord. As we allow his message of love, forgiveness and humility to shine through us before our Muslim neighbors, they will, as Christ said: " ... see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven." Whether we live at peace with our Muslim neighbors or not depends as much on us as on them.
*Awad is a missionary in the Middle East for the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. A Palestinian American, he serves at Bethlehem Bible College.
Commentaries provided by United Methodist News Service do not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of UMNS or the United Methodist Church. However, the United Methodist Church officially condemns prejudice against Muslims and Arabs. For more information, consult the denomination’s 2000 Book of Resolutions, "Prejudice Against Muslims and Arabs in the USA" (p. 193) and "Our Muslim Neighbors" (p. 743).
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This guy raises an excellent point, something I could not have said better myself. This will show Christians on this forum to act like one.
Why do you post such stupid stuff? Somebody needs to give you a spanking, turn you over their knee and pop your ass really good. What the hell is wrong with you posting that kind bull shit? You say you are a grow man, you should know better. You think that all these Muslims will believe that crap, there is a few Muslims on this site that have the brains not to believe that.... You and few guys on this site find the darnest shit, and then post it here hoping to start another war of words on this site. 
Apparently, someone put my battery in backwards and I keep coming and coming and coming back... To protect my innocents.....The letter "U" has been take out of the word "coming' and was replaced with the letter "O"...