Wade on into the debate: Tolerance of other religions...

Well..I thought I would give my 2 cents worth on the cultural and religious debate going on...


11 Sept is a day rightly remembered with ceremony and sombre memories of what marked the start of the ‘war on terror’. However this year the squeaky clean image of American Christian morality... [cough cough] was tarnished by Pastor Terry Jones’ of a small church in Florida in his plan to burn copies of the Qur’an. This, along with the proposal to build an Islamic cultural centre and mosque 2 small blocks from Ground Zero has many people, Westerners and others asking questions about when is tolerance, well, tolerance – and when (if ever) is it ok to say no on religious grounds. It is not just the religious conservatives or fanatics speaking out on the topic – relatives and friends of the 3000 who died have spoken of their difficulty in accepting this...one family member was quoted by Reuters as saying they are building “too close to holy ground”.




I myself have strong (and I believe informed) views on the consequences of Western culture ingratiating itself with a religion (such as Islam) without accepting it or understanding it.


A wiser counsellor and author than I wrote that "feelings are experiences warped or enhanced by the past or a future shaped only by the imagination" (fibreglassfaith). And so I, like all Christians perhaps should endeavour to put any unrecognised personal feelings aside and reflect on the words of Christ, from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5 (vs 42-45): “[Jesus said] You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”


I believe Pastor Terry, like many others, was appealing to the worst in people. As Christ did, I hope I appeal to the best in you, not the worst – and as such, when encountering questions of faith of religiosity in our communities, you too will appeal to the best in others, promoting Christ not as the mainstream philosopher that he is so frequently made out to be, but a man of absolute compassion, absolute forgiveness, absolute charity and absolute grace. And in our willingness to share those qualities with others around us, might we too be inspired to look first for those qualities in the people around us.


I have found this prayer to be worthwhile...one of the good ones from the APBA:


Holy God, source of all love, on the night of your betrayal Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment, to love one another as he loved them: write this commandment in our hearts, and give us the will to serve others as he was the servant of all, who gave his life and died for us, yet is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.