What American Christians might do to enhance Muslim life
Political Pulpit
Object:
The months of March, April, and May are months of repentance and celebration for Christians. The seasons of Lent and of Easter correspond this year with these months. These are seasons for confessing our sin and for celebrating God's love for all people. Wes wants us to consider Christian-Muslim relations. We certainly have a lot to repent about on that score. I think Wes would agree. But I suggest that you can use your pulpit these months to celebrate not just God's love for us, but also for the Muslim community, even to celebrate areas in which we can serve and celebrate God together.
Yes, we surely do have a lot for which to repent regarding American attitudes toward Islam and its faithful. A late summer Time magazine poll revealed that 4 in 10 Americans have an unfavorable view of Muslims. Nearly half of us say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence against nonbelievers.
Although most of us are willing to grant that Muslims can be good Americans, the poll reveals that a significant minority of us either say Muslim Americans do not believe in American values (25%) or have no opinion (21%). These attitudes certainly came to the fore in the past year's hubbub over whether an Islamic community center could be built near the 9/11 ground zero site in Manhattan (with polls showing 6 in 10 Americans opposing it).
None of these attitudes is surprising in light of poll numbers revealing a real personal animosity we have to Muslims. The remarks of NPR newsman Juan Williams regarding his suspicion of fellow-Muslim travelers was just the tip of the iceberg. A 1995 Gallup poll
indicated disturbingly that 12% of Americans would prefer not to have a Muslim neighbor. But a poll taken over a decade later (2006) indicated a 10% jump in those numbers -- as 22% of the public nixed the idea of Muslim neighbors! Yes, we Americans have much for which to repent. Share these troubling numbers with your parishioners. We are downright prejudiced about Islam and our Muslim neighbors!
The lectionary texts for several Sundays and festivals during these months invite this sort of reflection in the pulpit. Concern for the poor and oppressed emerges in the gospel for March 27 (John 4:5-42) and the first lessons for April 10 and April 22 (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Isaiah 52:13--53:12). Certainly the poll data show how as a result of our prejudices and hostilities toward the Islamic faith, Muslims have become our latest group of pariah people (along with all our immigrants) in America! And insofar as a significant segment of the Muslim population in America is Black, anti-Muslim attitudes can also function as subtle code for racism (eg, recall the allegations of Obama's alleged Islamic faith commitments).
But our lessons will not let things stand that way. Christians are called to challenge the destructive status quo in the first lesson for April 3 (1 Samuel 16:1-13) and the gospel for April 17 (Matthew 26:14--27:66). Easter is a word all about a fresh start, about a new reality ushered into our lives by Jesus' Resurrection. It leads us, in the words of the second lesson for the festival (April 24 in Colossians 3:1-4) to seek the things that are above, not the things of the earth. So the Easter Season calls us away from the old attitudes of distrust and suspicion to a commitment to peace with our neighbors (consider that theme on March 27 [second lesson, Romans 5:1-11]), to a vision of God who shows no partiality (a theme invited in our preaching on April 24 [Acts 10:34-43] and May 8 [Acts 2:14a, 22-32]). These are worship events that invite sermons on the importance of caring for the well being of Muslims in your community, for the well being of these victims of our hostility and bias. Your pulpit can be filled with politics during these months, with the stirring words of equality and justice on behalf of those among us who are enjoying little more than hatred and scorn in the "land of the free."
Another aspect of what your pulpits or Sunday schools might do to enhance Muslim life among us is to use these forums to help overcome some of the ignorance and misconception many American Christians have about Islam. Start with what we share in common -- faith in one God (Koran 29:46) and the veneration of Jesus (42:13).
Some observers say that we can find no common ground with Islam because it teaches hate and the repression of women. But such analysts can not have read the Koran. Purchase a copy and study these texts with your parishioners and colleagues.
Although in some repressive Islamic states in the Near East, Christians and Jews are persecuted, this is not the status Allah or Mohammed assigned them in the Koran. They are said to be (along with Muslims) "people of the Book" (4:153).
As for the charge that Islam is a religion countenancing terrorism, how can this charge be reconciled with the Koran's directive that we are not to be aggressive in fighting those in the way of God (2:190) or its claim that we are to stop hostilities once those oppressing cease (2:193)? As for compassion, Muslims are expected to believe that faith involves giving out of love for God to the poor and setting slaves free (2:177; 30:38). Finally there is the knotty charge of the religion's sexism and treatment of woman. Granted there is patriarchy here, sort of like in the Christian Bible. But the Koran also teaches at several points that God does not prefer sons to daughters (37:153-154; 33:35). No, Islam is not such an evil religion after all.
There is plenty of room for progressive Christians to dialogue with Islam, to cooperate in joint political ventures. Will you use your pulpit or your Sunday school classroom to let your parishioners know? The possibility for joint ventures exposits on both sides. Just as we have the concept of natural law (Romans 2:14-15), which posits that Christians are not the only people on earth to know and to be able to act on behalf of justice, so the Koran (7:172-173) states that all the children of Adam are justly accountable to the divine judgment. Islam too is a religion that invites its adherents into dialogue with all human beings on principles of seeking justice.
Seek out Muslim caliphs to join your clergy association, try to approach them about joint projects in bettering your community. Involve your laity in such joint projects. Yes, it surely is the case that Christians and Muslims have a lot in common. Working together on community projects might provide opportunities to get acquainted, to get to know each other. People who know each other don't usually demonize each other and the other's faith. This sort of dialogue might provide a context in which Muslim leadership is freer to draw on the peace and justice themes of their heritage, as Wes hopes he might hear.
So make your pulpit political during these months, using some of these insights about our commonality, common Christian and Muslim beliefs, using some of the disturbing poll data noted above, and it could contribute to making life better not just for your flock, but also for the Muslim faithful as well.
Mark Ellingsen is a professor on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and the author of hundreds of articles and fourteen books, most recently Sin Bravely: A Joyful Alternative to a Purpose-Driven Life (Continuum).
Yes, we surely do have a lot for which to repent regarding American attitudes toward Islam and its faithful. A late summer Time magazine poll revealed that 4 in 10 Americans have an unfavorable view of Muslims. Nearly half of us say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence against nonbelievers.
Although most of us are willing to grant that Muslims can be good Americans, the poll reveals that a significant minority of us either say Muslim Americans do not believe in American values (25%) or have no opinion (21%). These attitudes certainly came to the fore in the past year's hubbub over whether an Islamic community center could be built near the 9/11 ground zero site in Manhattan (with polls showing 6 in 10 Americans opposing it).
None of these attitudes is surprising in light of poll numbers revealing a real personal animosity we have to Muslims. The remarks of NPR newsman Juan Williams regarding his suspicion of fellow-Muslim travelers was just the tip of the iceberg. A 1995 Gallup poll
indicated disturbingly that 12% of Americans would prefer not to have a Muslim neighbor. But a poll taken over a decade later (2006) indicated a 10% jump in those numbers -- as 22% of the public nixed the idea of Muslim neighbors! Yes, we Americans have much for which to repent. Share these troubling numbers with your parishioners. We are downright prejudiced about Islam and our Muslim neighbors!
The lectionary texts for several Sundays and festivals during these months invite this sort of reflection in the pulpit. Concern for the poor and oppressed emerges in the gospel for March 27 (John 4:5-42) and the first lessons for April 10 and April 22 (Ezekiel 37:1-14; Isaiah 52:13--53:12). Certainly the poll data show how as a result of our prejudices and hostilities toward the Islamic faith, Muslims have become our latest group of pariah people (along with all our immigrants) in America! And insofar as a significant segment of the Muslim population in America is Black, anti-Muslim attitudes can also function as subtle code for racism (eg, recall the allegations of Obama's alleged Islamic faith commitments).
But our lessons will not let things stand that way. Christians are called to challenge the destructive status quo in the first lesson for April 3 (1 Samuel 16:1-13) and the gospel for April 17 (Matthew 26:14--27:66). Easter is a word all about a fresh start, about a new reality ushered into our lives by Jesus' Resurrection. It leads us, in the words of the second lesson for the festival (April 24 in Colossians 3:1-4) to seek the things that are above, not the things of the earth. So the Easter Season calls us away from the old attitudes of distrust and suspicion to a commitment to peace with our neighbors (consider that theme on March 27 [second lesson, Romans 5:1-11]), to a vision of God who shows no partiality (a theme invited in our preaching on April 24 [Acts 10:34-43] and May 8 [Acts 2:14a, 22-32]). These are worship events that invite sermons on the importance of caring for the well being of Muslims in your community, for the well being of these victims of our hostility and bias. Your pulpit can be filled with politics during these months, with the stirring words of equality and justice on behalf of those among us who are enjoying little more than hatred and scorn in the "land of the free."
Another aspect of what your pulpits or Sunday schools might do to enhance Muslim life among us is to use these forums to help overcome some of the ignorance and misconception many American Christians have about Islam. Start with what we share in common -- faith in one God (Koran 29:46) and the veneration of Jesus (42:13).
Some observers say that we can find no common ground with Islam because it teaches hate and the repression of women. But such analysts can not have read the Koran. Purchase a copy and study these texts with your parishioners and colleagues.
Although in some repressive Islamic states in the Near East, Christians and Jews are persecuted, this is not the status Allah or Mohammed assigned them in the Koran. They are said to be (along with Muslims) "people of the Book" (4:153).
As for the charge that Islam is a religion countenancing terrorism, how can this charge be reconciled with the Koran's directive that we are not to be aggressive in fighting those in the way of God (2:190) or its claim that we are to stop hostilities once those oppressing cease (2:193)? As for compassion, Muslims are expected to believe that faith involves giving out of love for God to the poor and setting slaves free (2:177; 30:38). Finally there is the knotty charge of the religion's sexism and treatment of woman. Granted there is patriarchy here, sort of like in the Christian Bible. But the Koran also teaches at several points that God does not prefer sons to daughters (37:153-154; 33:35). No, Islam is not such an evil religion after all.
There is plenty of room for progressive Christians to dialogue with Islam, to cooperate in joint political ventures. Will you use your pulpit or your Sunday school classroom to let your parishioners know? The possibility for joint ventures exposits on both sides. Just as we have the concept of natural law (Romans 2:14-15), which posits that Christians are not the only people on earth to know and to be able to act on behalf of justice, so the Koran (7:172-173) states that all the children of Adam are justly accountable to the divine judgment. Islam too is a religion that invites its adherents into dialogue with all human beings on principles of seeking justice.
Seek out Muslim caliphs to join your clergy association, try to approach them about joint projects in bettering your community. Involve your laity in such joint projects. Yes, it surely is the case that Christians and Muslims have a lot in common. Working together on community projects might provide opportunities to get acquainted, to get to know each other. People who know each other don't usually demonize each other and the other's faith. This sort of dialogue might provide a context in which Muslim leadership is freer to draw on the peace and justice themes of their heritage, as Wes hopes he might hear.
So make your pulpit political during these months, using some of these insights about our commonality, common Christian and Muslim beliefs, using some of the disturbing poll data noted above, and it could contribute to making life better not just for your flock, but also for the Muslim faithful as well.
Mark Ellingsen is a professor on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta and the author of hundreds of articles and fourteen books, most recently Sin Bravely: A Joyful Alternative to a Purpose-Driven Life (Continuum).
