Greetings of peace and love to you.
Just as Christianity was not the source of the problem in the Inquisition or the Crusades or the actions of members of the KKK, just as Buddhism is not the source of the problem in the ethnic cleansing of Burma - the religion is not the problem. Whenever someone, regardless of their religion, is speaking and acting without politeness, respectfulness, and love in their words and actions—beware.
Beware of religious arrogance, which leads to extremism, which leads to extremists committing atrocities in the name of their religion for a wide range of reasons. Each individual must choose to live and spread the message of love and peace and unity for all - that is the essence of all the religions. And in the face of those who do not make this choice, we must again choose, to the best of our ability, not to contribute to messages of fear or hate, and instead to be of those who carry and spread messages of love, peace, mercy, justice and freedom for all without separation.
Beware to whom you lend credibility. If I have a question about Christianity, I would not take the question about Christianity to the Hinduism professor; rather, I will go to the professor of Christianity because she's recognizable as a pious practitioner of Christianity and recognized scholar in the field. If you know someone who grew up in the U.S. a practicing Christian, devout, devoted, and who later converted to another religion and used their experience of and knowledge of Christianity to criticize Christianity, would you consider them an expert in Christianity? I would not; to me the expert in Christianity is the one who is recognizable as a pious practitioner and scholar of Christianity. Please consider - I gained deeper understanding of and appreciation for Christianity after converting to Islam because of the extensive studies in Islam. In my experience, this growth of understanding and appreciation is common in those who truly are experts in their religion; in those who know their religions well - they grow in their respect and appreciation for other religions as they study their own. If a person’s words and actions indicate a lack of respect and appreciation for other religions, consider that this person may not yet know their religion well (regardless of how many people have deemed him or her an expert).
Beware of the potential to confuse polemics with truth or expertise. Beware of oversimplification and misrepresentation. If you truly seek to understand Islam, or any religion, do so from credible sources, like The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an or the Oxford University Press translation of The Qur'an by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. Question anything you hear or read about another religion that is said or written by someone who is not a pious practitioner of that religion. For a glimpse of what the vast majority of Muslim scholars believe, see http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/. I also recommend A Christian View of Islam by Thomas F. Michel, S.J., and A Muslim View of Christianity by Mahmoud Ayoub, as well as The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists by Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Beware of becoming insular. Get to know people of different religions. Talk to each other about your respective experiences of faith, divine inspiration, and feeling God’s presence. Learn about each other’s families and loved ones. Eat together, pray together, fast together. First come to know one another before exploring your respective beliefs. And when you do explore them, first focus on the similarities. Then, after coming to know each other and to appreciate your commonalities, respectfully explore differences with humility. Rather than trying to persuade one another of your ‘rightness,’ leave all of your differences for God’s decision.
And while we await God’s decision regarding our differences, let’s choose to be the love.
Just as Christianity was not the source of the problem in the Inquisition or the Crusades or the actions of members of the KKK, just as Buddhism is not the source of the problem in the ethnic cleansing of Burma - the religion is not the problem. Whenever someone, regardless of their religion, is speaking and acting without politeness, respectfulness, and love in their words and actions—beware.
Beware of religious arrogance, which leads to extremism, which leads to extremists committing atrocities in the name of their religion for a wide range of reasons. Each individual must choose to live and spread the message of love and peace and unity for all - that is the essence of all the religions. And in the face of those who do not make this choice, we must again choose, to the best of our ability, not to contribute to messages of fear or hate, and instead to be of those who carry and spread messages of love, peace, mercy, justice and freedom for all without separation.
Beware to whom you lend credibility. If I have a question about Christianity, I would not take the question about Christianity to the Hinduism professor; rather, I will go to the professor of Christianity because she's recognizable as a pious practitioner of Christianity and recognized scholar in the field. If you know someone who grew up in the U.S. a practicing Christian, devout, devoted, and who later converted to another religion and used their experience of and knowledge of Christianity to criticize Christianity, would you consider them an expert in Christianity? I would not; to me the expert in Christianity is the one who is recognizable as a pious practitioner and scholar of Christianity. Please consider - I gained deeper understanding of and appreciation for Christianity after converting to Islam because of the extensive studies in Islam. In my experience, this growth of understanding and appreciation is common in those who truly are experts in their religion; in those who know their religions well - they grow in their respect and appreciation for other religions as they study their own. If a person’s words and actions indicate a lack of respect and appreciation for other religions, consider that this person may not yet know their religion well (regardless of how many people have deemed him or her an expert).
Beware of the potential to confuse polemics with truth or expertise. Beware of oversimplification and misrepresentation. If you truly seek to understand Islam, or any religion, do so from credible sources, like The Cambridge Companion to the Qur'an or the Oxford University Press translation of The Qur'an by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. Question anything you hear or read about another religion that is said or written by someone who is not a pious practitioner of that religion. For a glimpse of what the vast majority of Muslim scholars believe, see http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/. I also recommend A Christian View of Islam by Thomas F. Michel, S.J., and A Muslim View of Christianity by Mahmoud Ayoub, as well as The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists by Khaled Abou El Fadl.
Beware of becoming insular. Get to know people of different religions. Talk to each other about your respective experiences of faith, divine inspiration, and feeling God’s presence. Learn about each other’s families and loved ones. Eat together, pray together, fast together. First come to know one another before exploring your respective beliefs. And when you do explore them, first focus on the similarities. Then, after coming to know each other and to appreciate your commonalities, respectfully explore differences with humility. Rather than trying to persuade one another of your ‘rightness,’ leave all of your differences for God’s decision.
And while we await God’s decision regarding our differences, let’s choose to be the love.
RSS Feed