Until There Are Churches in Saudi Arabia --Sightings

The debate over the presence of mosques in the United States seems to go on without end, and much of the debate is based on misinformation (both intentional and non-intentional).  Martin Marty takes up some of this in an especially pertinently entitled piece.  I invite you to read and enter a civil and informed conversation, so the tantrums of the day can start to die down.

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Sightings  9/20/2010

Until There Are Churches in Saudi Arabia

-- Martin E. Marty

The tantrum—let’s call it what it is—against government, taxes, Muslims, and moderates continues to rage, and will through November and perhaps long after. A child in a tantrum eventually stops stomping and rejoins the family, where speaking and hearing, agreeing and disagreeing, can resume. Sightings would like to move on to other topics about religion and public life, and may do so soon, out of boredom, fear, weariness, or, dare we hope, with hope for better, tantrumless times.

In the meantime in these mean times, out of thousands of choices from columns, blogs, and books, let me select two, one of the best, and one of the worst. In The New Republic Leon Wieseltier challenges readers with a question: Is Islam, as some defenders say, “a religion of peace?” He answers, “It is not. Like Christianity and like Judaism, Islam is a religion of peace and a religion of war,” depending on which era and which circumstances bring forth “the tendencies” within the religion. To relate terrorism to movements within Islam “is not Islamophobic. . . Quite the contrary: it is to side with Muslims who are struggling against the same poison as we are.”

As for the World Trade Center attacks, he pleads, don’t erect a cross as a memorial. “Christianity was not attacked on September 11. America was attacked. They are not the same thing.” American Christians who use the cross in their ads against Islam “do not deplore a religious war, they welcome one.”

Now read William McGurn in The Wall Street Journal. Ask yourself what does he and the tantrum-throwers to his far right, the Newt Gingriches and company want? Peace? Moderation? Can you find the beginning of the beginning of a way to peace in the McGurn column? Note that, for good measure, he links American liberalism to radical Islam. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, “perhaps” a “moderate Muslim,” Richard Haass of the Council on Foreign Relations, and others support “‘interfaith dialogue,’ and called for American Muslims and non-Muslims to ‘break bread’ together.” Not on your life, says columnist McGurn. Stooping lowest he asks, “What are the fruits” of the efforts at moderation and dialogue?

These efforts, he writes, produced as fruit the “obscure Florida Pastor” and other would-be Qur’an burners, those who tear out pages of the Qur’an in front of the White House, and—this one is half right—“angry marches between pro- and anti-Islamic Center crowds,” all to be blamed on one “typical experiment in liberal bridge building.” He implies that there should be no efforts at “interfaith dialogue,” “breaking bread together,” or differentiating moderates from extremists in all faith traditions. Whom to blame for the current rages? Muslims, of course; one Imam, of course; and “folks who cling to their liberalism and their antipathy to people who aren’t like them.”

McGurn does have the grace to scold “Republican politicos” who, thanks to “liberal hectoring,” exploit tensions, “saying no mosque near Ground Zero until we see a church in Saudi Arabia.” Which sets us up for Wieseltier’s best line: “I also hear that there should be no mosque in Park Place until there are churches and synagogues in Saudi Arabia. I get it. Until they are like us, we will be like them.”

References

William McGurn, “'Bridge Building' and the WTC Mosque,” The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2010.

Leon Wieseltier, “Mosque Notes,” The New Republic, September 2, 2010.


Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, publications, and contact information can be found at http://www.illuminos.com/.


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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Franklin Graham on Islam and Violence -- Sightings

Martin Marty has come back just in time, to offer a bit of wisdom and common sense to the overheated debate about Islam, especially the debate that is engendered by misguided or misinformed souls like Franklin Graham.   I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not sure he deserves it.  Nonetheless, Martin Marty picks up the topic that has been raging during his month or so away from his regular Monday perch.  So, here we have his opening round for September.

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Sightings 9/13/2010

Franklin Graham on Islam and Violence

-- Martin E. Marty

Aestas horribilis, Queen Elizabeth might call the summer just past, or those who care about civility in religious discourse and interfaith relations might judge it to have been. While Sightings took August off, forces, agencies, and voices of prejudice and, frankly, hate-mongering, did not. “Protest mosques,” “Restore America,” “Burn Qur’ans” and many more are keywords in our internet memory. One set of these keywords is so illuminating and nearly normative that it merits comment before we enter a new but not necessarily more promising season. I refer to the pronouncements of evangelist Franklin Graham on Muslim genetics, competition for souls, Islam as killer, and scriptures.

Genetics first: There is no need to repeat Graham’s bizarre charge that Islam is passed through the genes of a father to a son. Scholars of Islam find that idea nowhere in its teachings. Conversion-expert Graham should understand that one becomes a Muslim the way the born-again in Graham’s tradition become Christian: by making a profession of faith and a commitment through word and action. We won’t go into the political dimension of this issue with reference to Graham’s subject, the President of the United States, because, as long-time readers know, Sightings does not “do” Presidents.

Competition for souls, second: Graham’s work is often positioned along lines crossed in Africa, where Muslims kill Christians and Christians kill Muslims. There is little point in going into “Who fired first?” or “Who killed most?” In religion-based warfare, there is never really a first and a second; there are only debates about first and second. Graham has chosen to attempt conversion in the second most tense area known to the two faith communities. Without doubt, there is ugliness and murder, but we picture militant Muslims speaking of Christians the way Graham speaks of Muslims. Call it a draw. (By the way, “the undersigned” is a Christian who sees a place for evangelism.)

Islam as killer of Christians, third: Graham has repeatedly charged this year that Islam, which he frequently calls “a very wicked and evil religion” is mandated to kill, and that it kills. He does not qualify his remarks, as the word “very” suggests and even though he is often cautioned about the possible lethal consequences for Christians and Muslims if things get more heated. Historians have no difficulty finding Muslims in killing modes. The problem is that historians also find Christians in killing modes, from most years of Christendom, when the sword advanced Christianity, down into our own time. Think of the Christian justifications in World War I. Think Christian killing Christian in Rwanda, Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

Fourth, scriptures: It is easy to find passages in the Qur’an and other classic Muslim texts in which Allah’s people may or should kill to advance God’s cause. Isolating these chunks of the Qur’an which are by now most familiar to Americans calls for overlooking Islam’s many peace-promoting texts. And it also means overlooking parallel biblical texts. There are far more pictures in the biblical texts of a warrior God licensing and, yes, commanding “omnicide,” the killing of men and women and children who stand in the path of God’s people. Yes, all that was long ago. Now, you will never (at least I never) find Jews or Christians who think that killing people of another faith is a scriptured mandate for them.

Let’s hope and work for a less horrifying autumn.

Martin E. Marty's biography, current projects, publications, and contact information can be found at http://www.illuminos.com./

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Sightings comes from the Martin Marty Center at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

Praise God! No Qur'ans to be burnt!

I just ran across the information from the Detroit Free Press that the Florida church won't be burning any copies of the Qur'an.  Of course, the pastor got his wish.  He got his 15 minutes of fame, which is probably what this is all about.  It's too bad the press fell for this stunt, which meant that the religious community and political leaders had to come out and tell him no.  Maybe it was the President that got to him -- or maybe that's what he was waiting for.  Not the General, nor the Secretary of State, not even the Pope would do -- But when the President waded in, he got what he wanted!  Besides, he probably made a bundle on his T-Shirt sales.

But the good news is that no Qur'ans will get burnt.

I like the words shared by the Rev. Kenneth Flowers, Pastor of Detroit's Greater New Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church:

"Whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, you do not burn another faith's holy books."

I think this is a principle that we should all get behind!! 

Koran Burner Gets His 15 minutes of fame

I have been hesitant to write about the impending plans by a Florida fundamentalist pastor (I'm not sure I really want to dignify this man with such a title) to burn copies of the Koran (Quran) on Saturday.  Saturday is, by the way, the 9th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks on the WTC and Pentagon. 

First of all, burning books of any kind is simply bad taste.  Second, at a time when the United States has troops engaged in combat in one Muslim country, and thousands more still present in a supporting role in another, such antics, as General David Petraeus noted, puts troops in danger -- but then again so do statements by politicians like Newt Gingrich and preachers like Franklin Graham.  If you want to bring these wars to a successful close, incendiary language about the people living in these war zones doesn't help the cause.

I think it's clear that this guy has few supporters.  He's the anti-Muslim equivalent of Topeka's Fred Phelps, and as such he seems to be an embarrassment even to the most Islamaphobic fundamentalists. 

So, instead of burning Korans, Bibles, or any other book, maybe we could actually do some reading of them to see what is found there!  We might not like everything we read in the Koran, but I guarantee that you won't like everything you read in the Bible. 

Mr. Jones, just put the light out and go away, would you please!

Muggles, Mudbloods, and Bigotry -- the Lessons of Harry Potter for Today

I've been on a role, as someone recently pointed out, being that I've been writing about anti-Islamic bigotry.  Now not all opposition to the building of the mosque in New York is an expression of bigotry, but there is a definite component to the debate that is full-blown bigotry.  Some of this, of course, is simply politics.  Just as Communists made for a good straw man during the cold war (though socialists seem to be making a comeback), now immigrants and Muslims seem to be a good target.  Several years ago I wrote a column for the Lompoc Record on this topic, using as my example the conversation about muggles and mudbloods that is present in the Harry Potter books and films (this is fresh in my mind because I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on TV last night!). 

As you prepare to read this piece from 2007, I want to add in a quotation shared with me by my good friend and fellow pastor Glen Miles.  It's a quote from George Bush -- from 2002.  I've not been a big fan of the former president, but on this topic he is right on target.

"America rejects bigotry. We reject every act of hatred against people of Arab background or Muslim faith America values and welcomes peaceful people of all faiths -- Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and many others. Every faith is practiced and protected here, because we are one country. Every immigrant can be fully and equally American because we're one country. Race and color should not divide us, because America is one country."

President George W. Bush Promotes Compassionate Conservatism
Parkside Hall, San Jose, California
April 30, 2002

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Faith in the Public Square
Lompoc Record
August 19, 2007

No one likes to think of themselves as bigots, but unfortunately bigotry remains a present challenge to our society. Discussions of immigration policy, national security, even marriage often contain veiled and not so veiled statements about “them.” “Them” is code for those we deem undesirable; those who would steal our jobs, pollute our culture, waste our tax payer dollars, or undermine our morality. Yes, bigotry remains a problem in our day.

I happen to be a big Harry Potter fan, having just finished reading “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” and as I read I couldn't help but hear the book's author speaking to this very issue that plagues our world today. Supposedly this is a series of children's books, but they are much more, for many adults have found not just hours of enjoyment, but deep meaning in this increasingly mature series of books. The books offer insight into such virtues as friendship, loyalty, being true to one's self, and the importance of standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.

J.K. Rowling seems to have understood the old adage that truth must be caught rather than taught, and therefore it's quite possible to read these books, especially the final volume, as a protest against the rising tide of bigotry in our world today.

In the case of Harry Potter's world, the bigotry comes from the wizarding world's “Purebloods,” and it's directed against “Muggles” (non-wizards) and “Muggle-borns” or “Mudbloods,” as radical “Purebloods” love to call them. “Mud-bloods” are wizards like Hermione Granger and Harry's mother, Lily, who're without any apparent “wizarding” ancestry. Their “powers” are therefore seen as somehow illegitimate - even stolen.

This bigotry among wizards might be traced to the fact that they must live in the shadows, something many resent. But it's also born of a sense of superiority, and as we all know - “might makes right.” Their desire to keep things pure leads some radicalized “Purebloods” to engage in a policy of oppression and even murder. And those “purebloods” who sympathize with these “lower beings” are seen as traitors - “blood-traitors” - who must be marginalized for their love of “Muggles” and “Mudbloods.” But even our heroes must learn something about bigotry, and it's the “Muggle-born” Hermione Granger who is their teacher. She helps her friends see other non-human beings - like the house-elves who are essentially slaves - as having dignity and honor in their own right.

If any of this sounds familiar, it should for this morality-play sheds light on our own histories and experiences. A fanatical concern for racial purity stood at the heart of the Nazi's Aryan ideology, but they're not alone in history. Consider our own American legacy of slavery, Jim Crow, and the Trail of Tears, just to give a few examples.

Yes, this isn't just a series of fantasy stories meant for children (indeed this is a series of books that has matured with the original readers of the series). It is a word of wisdom that we can learn from as we deal with a world that's becoming increasingly diverse and yet increasingly intolerant. Indeed, it can be said that bigotry is on the rise everywhere in the world today. Here in America the traditional recipients of bigotry - African-Americans, Roman Catholics, Asians, and Jews - have been joined by Latinos, gays, Muslims, and immigrants of all stripes, but especially those who hail from Mexico and Central America.

It seems that we regularly read and hear laments about the threats to American security and culture from those who are different. Despite the fact - with the possible exception of Native Americans - that there is no such thing as a truly “blue-blooded American” - we all stem from immigrant stock - some believe themselves to be more American than others.

But such bigotry is never right and is often a pretext to discrimination and to violence. It is, in fact, repugnant to what's right and honorable and decent, and contrary to the teachings of my own faith tradition. Which is why, of course, we should heed Harry's message and stand up for what is right!

Dr. Bob Cornwall is pastor of First Christian Church of Lompoc.  He blogs at http://pastorobobcornwall.blogspot.com.



August 19, 2007

The Inanity of the current "Islam" Debate

It is rather difficult to believe the inanity of the "conversation" going around about Islam right now.  It is fueled by a number of currents, some political and some cultural and some religious.   You have this huge disconnect about the President's faith -- he's a CHRISTIAN folks, not a Muslim.  It is fueled in part by at best misinformed people like Franklin Graham who go on CNN and say that Obama was born a Muslim because his father was a Muslim, and then when asked whether Obama is a Christian, gives this tepid answer -- when he knows the truth.  Then you have the hullabaloo surrounding the Cordoba House (now Parc51) Islamic Center (today I got an email declaring that she had been told by someone that Osama Bin Laden is funding it).  You have Newt Gingrich comparing Islam to the Nazi's.

Right now, we're in the midst of this "debate" where facts no longer seem to matter.  And so, I think Stephen Prothero, Professor of Religion at Harvard, is exactly correct when he responded to a question from CNN's John King as to whether the current conversation about Islam is helpful.  Prothero, who has a new book out (which I've not yet read) entitled God is not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World -- and Why Their Differences Matter, responded by saying that it's not helpful because the conversation about Islam is taking place at a "below kindergarten level."  

One of the reasons why the debate is so skewed is that Americans suffer from an intense form of religious illiteracy, and that is dangerous.  As Prothero demonstrates in his earlier book  Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know and Doesn't, is that most Americans don't even know the tenets of their own faith.  And if we're going to put an end to the misinformation, it's going to take those of us who are Christians to step up and say no to it. 

I think that Prothero's presentation on CNN is something that needs to be heard.  It's straightforward, pulls no punches, and gets to the bottom of the issue.  So, take a look:

H/T Media Matters

See my review of Prothero's book Religious Literacy. 

Time to Stop Villifying Muslims and Islam

The other day the head of the Anti-Defamation League, Abe Foxman, joined Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich in condemning the Islamic center and mosque planned for New York City -- even though the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg welcomes it.  What saddens me about the ADL response, which includes casting aspersions on the project because of its unknown funders, is that I once worked for the ADL office in Santa Barbara, coordinating its "No Place for Hate" campaign -- an effort that was designed to overcome misrepresentations and bring people together.  But the New York situation isn't the only one at hand.  There is an attempt to block the building of a mosque in Murfreesboro, TN, an effort that has been aided and abetted by politicians who are running for office on an anti-Islam platform.  Remember that the current Lt. Governor, who is running for governor, has suggested that maybe Islam isn't covered by constitutional protections, because its a cult and not a religion.

Then, beyond politics, there is a whole host of Christian groups and churches that have chosen to attack Islam.  Yes, Islam has its share of terrorists and it was an extremist Islamic group that perpetrated 9-11.  But, one shouldn't tar and feather an entire religion, one that is adhered to by more than 1 billion people, for the acts of a minority of its adherents.

So, consider the preacher who has proclaimed that he is going to hold a special service where he'll burn the Koran.  Now, how is that an example of Christian love?  Then there are the so called Christian "specialists" on Islam, who have been shown not to understand this religion, and to have even falsified the nature of their understanding.

Robert Parham has written a very helpful essay for Ethic's Daily that speaks to this problem, sharing two Baptist voices that are trying to counter this problem.  It is time, these leaders say, for Christians to refrain from slander, and engage the issues with honesty. With this, I'm in total agreement. 

It is time for those Christians (and others), whether they are politicians, preachers, or whatnot, who have cast inappropriate aspersions on Islam and Muslims, to put aside vilification, take a humble stance toward the other, and begin conversations that will lead to understanding and hopefully bring peace. 

Lincoln, the Know Nothings, and Nativism Old and New

Earlier I wrote about my disgust with both Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich's demagoguery concerning Muslims in America.  Actually, Palin's rant wasn't as dangerous as Gingrich's.  But both are what some call "Christianists," and in their understanding of "real American" is quite narrow.  The Nativism that is driving the debate in Arizona and in New York is not new.  It has a fairly strong pedigree, that goes back to the early days of the Republic.  It fueled the dispossession of Native Americans from their lands, kept blacks in servitude, excluded Asians, and targeted Catholics, especially Irish Catholics.

Back in the 1850s a political movement emerged that came to be known as the "Know Nothing Party" -- a party that targeted Catholics.  It had some political success and even recruited a former President to run on its behalf in 1856 -- Millard Fillmore.  The response that Abraham Lincoln gave in a letter to friend Joshua Speed dated 1856 speaks clearly to what is happening today.  Although the majority of the letter speaks to the question of slavery and the impending admission of Kansas to the union, the letter also speaks volumes not only to the situation then regarding immigration and the other, but to that which exists today. 

I am not a Know-Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor or degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes" When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].

So, in response to Gingrich's demand that no mosque be built whilst churches can't be built in Saudi Arabia, perhaps we who love liberty should move not to Russia but to Saudi Arabia, for if the "Know Nothings" of today take over, then at least we'll not live with they hypocrisy of our pretensions of liberty for all.