Juan Williams is a liberal/progressive analyst for Fox News. He also used to be a commentator for NPR (National Public Radio)until he was fired this week for saying "inappropriate" things with respect to fearing Muslims on an airplane. Just a week or so earlier, Bill O'Reilly had a "run in" with some of the ladies on "The View" and his comment that "Muslims attacked us on 9/11" caused Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set in disgust. As I see and hear it, there is a controversy brewing with respect to how Americans ought to view Muslims. President George W. Bush made it clear, at the time of the attack of 9/11, that we were not at war with Islam. He attended services at a few different mosques and made connections with some Muslim clerics to build relationships around the world. The discussion has changed a bit under President Barack Obama. The phrase "war on terror" has been removed from the dialog and it is politically incorrect to say that "Muslims attacked the U.S on 9/11." Instead, the "correct" way to state it is that "extremists" were responsible for the 9/11 attacks. I am certain that conservatives and progressives will continue this debate through the mid-term election and beyond. I have a political opinion about this, of course (are you surprised??). However, I have more recently tried to think about the controversy through the lens of my faith. How should I, as a Christian, view Islam, terror, jihad and Sharia law?
The issue came into focus for me while reading yet another Ted Dekker book, "Blink of an Eye." In this book, written in 2002 and reprinted in 2007, he tells the fictional story of Miriam, a Saudi princess, who flees persecution and possible death in her own country to pursue freedom and love. Dekker's story is fictional but his accounts of brutality, oppression and torture of people by Muslim extremists is horribly accurate according to what I have read. I understand, both from reading his book and researching Islam,that not every Muslim reads and interprets the Koran or Qur'an the same way. Like the Pharisees and Sadduccees of the Old Testament, there are different sects of Muslims (Sunni and Shia most notably) who have different interpretations of the law (Sharia law). I understand that not every Muslim takes a "literal" view. However, I must admit, it is hard for me to understand how American "liberals" can support or be sympathetic of a "theology" that so demeans women.
What ought to be my response as a Christian to all of this? In looking at the historical roots of Islam, I discovered some of what the early Christians thought of it. In Dante's "Inferno" the prophet Muhammad is depicted as split in half, indicating his split from the Christian church. The monk Bede wrote a long argument detailing how the Islamic faith came from Ishmael the son of Hagar and Abraham. He noted how Ismael's "hand would be against everyone and everyone's hand against him." More recently Franklin Graham spoke of Islam as "evil" and "wicked." Is this the "right" view for Christians to hold?
I can honestly say I don't know; not for certain anyway. I think it is clear that a Bible believing Christian has to see Islam as a false religion. As John notes in John 14, Jesus said, "No man comes to the Father but by me." As a Christian I think I have the responsibility to show the love of Christ to all who don't know him as Savior. This would apply to Muslims. Is Islam an "evil" and "oppressive" religion or have some hijacked this faith and made into something different? I'm not wise enough to say. My response as a Christian, however, seems to be pretty clear. Love as Jesus would and try to show an example of his grace.
As an American, though, I can understand what Juan Williams was saying. While it may not be all of Islam that has declared "jihad" (holy war), certainly a part of the Muslim world has. Muslims who believe these actions to be abhorrent should denounce them. Westerners should be wary and wise. These are difficult times.
Thanks for reading...
In my interview with Bilal, he stressed to me that for muslims in America, their biggest struggle is trying to contradict the media's view of Islam. We talked about how, no matter what religion or viewpoint, you always have people that are extremists. Most people are just trying to live out the religion they claim in a normal and peaceful way. As a group, they meet and try to educate people on their faith the same way that Christians do. I think it's important that as Christians we get to know a little more about people of other religions, especially Islam because it is such a big deal right now, because it humanizes them. Most Muslims aren't crazy people who want Americans dead. Just like most Christians aren't homophobes. Yea, I think that Islam is a false religion, but it's important that we realize that they're just people living out what they think it the truth. He saw that I had a cross necklace on and he asked me if I knew why I went to church on Sundays. I was happy to say that I did, and he was happy to hear that, even though we had different opinions, that I knew why I believed what I did. I thought that was cool. Honestly, I was nervous to meet him. But I found that he was just a nice guy who loved people just like I do. They're not scary and they're not weird aliens that are so different. They're people. We should love them just the same.
ReplyDelete^ agree completely with Kimber. We should show love to everyone. Especially people named Severus Snape. Especially if our name is Lilly Evans. But yes, I was trying to think of a good Christian metaphor, and homophobia is perfect. Muslims saying "Allah hates America/Israel" is probably about as common has Christians saying, "God hates f**s." And neither of them has any merit, even within that religion.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ted Dekker's brilliant book Blink of an Eye, which I read when it was still just Blink, I think that is an example of why Christians SHOULDN'T treat Muslims poorly. Some of the extremist higher up men were abusive, but everyone else were merely deceived. And how a story of a Muslim and an Atheist ended in such powerful Christian supporting brilliant work of fiction is great.
I think Ted Dekker's books are a great source for thoughts on theological and political views, and some of my more "liberal" views are because of him. For example, the 4 books of the Circle Trilogy along with the Paradise Series and Martyrs song are MUCH of the reason I am so adamantly against war in almost every circumstance, including the Iraq war and war on terror in Afghanistan. Not saying we should just drop everything and leave now that we're there. That would be irresponsible. But we should have never gone, and I think that America has taken the role of Samuel in Green, a mistake we may pay for.
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ReplyDeleteThank you both for reading. I deleted my earlier reply because I wanted to reply in a better way. I agree with both of you that we ar to love as Jesus loved. Of that there is no doubt and I think many Christians today might miss this. I like your examples of homophobes and those that want to kill Americans. Those are extreme groups. I also like John's jab at Kimber with respect to Harry Potter.
ReplyDeleteMy question for both of you ( and me) is while we love the individual, what about a teaching that might be "evil" at its core? Let me give an example. I know a woman who is a witch. (Really a witch, not like Lily Evans :) ). She is kind and respectful, but she follows witchcraft. What do we do with that? Let me ask you this: What if we were to meet someone who was a Nazi or a member of the KKK? They might be nice people but their beliefs are evil. I think we agree. The question, as I see it, is whether or not Islam, at its core, is evil. I don't know. I am not that well studied on it. Some say yes and others say no. Even if it is, how does that affect how we treat people? Tough questions as I see it. Thanks again for reading.
Nice John...Nice.I will give you kudos for never letting something go. That's perseverance. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI just can't say that Islam is evil at its core. It's too similar to Christianity. I mean, yes, the difference is the key thing that is what matters, but there are too many similarities for me to call it evil. But I would say that witchcraft is evil at the core. I'm not entirely sure why I feel comfortable saying that...but I do. I think it's the difference between something that is originated and supported by the work of Satan, which is completely against what we stand for, while Islam originated from our same faith..but people took it and changed some things that are too important to ignore. As for the extremist acts that have resulted in killing Americans and others, I think that Satan is using the Muslim faith to hurt people, just like he sometimes uses Christianity to hurt people (i.e. "God hates fags"). Now, that being said, I'm not saying that Islam is ok necessarily, but I think that it is more of a misguided faith, rather than something inherently evil. Plus: I think that Satan uses things people have created (including religions) to spread evil. His involvement in people's actions andlives are what makes evil, not just religions or things themselves.
I don't know if that makes sense..I don't have a definite opinion on this yet..I'm kind of thinking as a write. Dangerous perhaps ;)
Interesting response, John is right though. Lily should love Snape. You must admit that! I just completed a two mile walk and thought while walking. I wonder what is the definition of "evil?" If it is anything that leads us away from Jesus, then Islam (and many other things) are evil. If it is something else, then I'm not sure. I also think it is harder to call something "evil" when you personally know someone in it. Thanks again for the reply and keep thinking...I think that's good!
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