Muslim Youth Leader Says: Evangelicals Can Grow to Love Muslims

by Eboo Patel

Editor’s Note: Eboo Patel is founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core. His new book is called “Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice and the Promise of America.”

By Eboo Patel, Special to CNN

Paul Ryan has set off joyous cheers in the land of conservatives largely because of his fiscal views but also because of his Catholic faith.

He is just the most recent member of his church – think House Speaker John Boehner, Republican runner-ups Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, and Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia – to be viewed as a flag-bearer for the conservative cause, a movement whose foot soldiers are largely evangelical Protestants.

The dynamic of evangelicals cheering for Catholics is one of the most stunning shifts in American political history. Just 50 years ago, evangelicals were ringing the alarm about the rising prominence of Catholics in American politics, not falling in line behind them.

FULL ARTICLE FROM CNN 

Can a Muslim be God’s Voice to an Evangelical Christian?

I once lived with a Muslim family for two years. It was extremely challenging, but not in the ways I expected it would be.

I lived with the Muslim family in their house near the center square of the capital city of Albania. There were nine of us in a relatively small space. Added to the cramped conditions was the fact that running water flowed only a few hours a day, electricity was intermittent, and food variety was limited. But I found none of this too difficult, even though Albania (Muslim, Balkan, post-Communist, poor, Mediterranean) could not have been more jarring to my affluent, American, “white,” Baptist upbringing.

What I found most challenging was this: They loved me. They loved me not only in a pat-you-on-the-back landlord sort of way. My Muslim family loved me like a son, which included caring for me as their spiritual responsibility.

This took particular force in the person of my hunched and humming Albanian grandmother. She was the first face I saw each morning, and at night she would lovingly touch my shoulder and say “sweet sleep.” She also pastored me. She encouraged me when I was low, blessed me as I went about my work (which, by the way, was Christian missionary work) and she told me about God’s love for me. She challenged my Christian training and my American pragmatism. She was a dawdling, superstitious Muslim. How could I allow her to be God’s voice in my life?

Tough questions

What am I to do? Seriously.

How do I understand all the folks who cross my path and don’t fit my theological categories? As a devout Christian, what am I supposed to do with the non-Christians I have known who are kinder than most Christians, purer than most Christians, and seemingly more connected to God than most Christians? Even more troubling, what am I to do with religious outsiders who are spiritually wise and speak that wisdom into my life? Am I allowed to accept their wisdom or am I required to sit in perpetual suspicion?

FULL ARTICLE FROM LEADERSHIP

White Evangelicals, Islam and American Values

According to the Public Religion Research Institute’s survey, “What it Means to be American: Attitudes towards Increasing Diversity in America Ten Years after 9/11,” “Nearly 6-in-10 white evangelical Protestants believe the values of Islam are at odds with American values, but majorities of Catholics, non-Christian religiously unaffiliated Americans, and religiously unaffiliated Americans disagree.”

If the percentage is accurate, what does this say about American Evangelicalism? That white Evangelicals’ skin color often shapes their perception of Islam? Could it be that white Evangelicals are biased against Arabs and that this prejudice shapes their view of Islam, even though there are, I believe, more Asian Muslims than Arab Muslims? Could it be that white Evangelicals often have nostalgic and/or narrow views of what it means to be American—’white and Christian like me’?

FULL ARTICLE FROM PATHEOS

Muslims and Christians Gather Together at Texas Megachurch

KELLER — Hoping to nurture good will between two major faiths, Christians and Muslims will mingle Sunday at a Texas barbecue at a Keller church.

The Rev. Bob Roberts, pastor of the 3,000-member NorthWood Church, said the gathering is intended to create friendships and recruit Muslims and Christians who will work together on a series of community projects.

“We’ve got a big Muslim issue in America,” Roberts said. “There are 2 billion Christians in the world and 1.5 billion Muslims. If we don’t learn how to get along, we are going to have a very sick world.”

Those attending will be served beef slaughtered according to Islamic rules.

It’s a follow-up to a similar service at NorthWood — attended by 1,500 Muslims and 1,000 Christians — shortly after the 10th anniversary of 9-11.

That service, labeled “repulsive” by a political activist, was highly emotional.

At one point, Roberts told the Muslims, “We love you.” After a standing ovation, a Muslim in the audience stood and replied to Roberts, “We love you too.”

At Sunday’s event, Muslims and Christians will sign up to work together on several volunteer projects, including painting and remodeling homes and renovating a Haltom City baseball field. Also, women will take part in cooking clubs, sharing recipes from their different cultures.

Among the speakers will be U.S. Rep. Kay Granger; former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley, director of the Center for Global Strategies in Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Azhar Azeez, vice president of the Islamic Society of North America in Plainfield, Ind.

FULL ARTICLE FROM FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM 

 

Anti-Muslim General Withdraws from West Point Speech

Plans for a talk at West Point by a retired general known for his harshly anti-Muslim remarks were abruptly canceled on Monday after a growing list of liberal veterans’ groups, civil liberties advocates and Muslim organizations called on the Military Academy to rescind the invitation.

Lt. Gen William G. Boykin “has decided to withdraw speaking at West Point’s National Prayer Breakfast” on Feb. 8, said a statement issued Monday by the academy’s office of public affairs. “In fulfilling its commitment to the community, the United States Military Academy will feature another speaker for the event.”

General Boykin, a longtime commander of Special Operations forces, first caused controversy after the Sept. 11 attacks when, as a senior Pentagon official, he described the fight against terrorism as a Christian battle against Satan. His remarks, made in numerous speeches to church groups, were publicly repudiated by President George W. Bush, who argued that America’s war was not with Islam but with violent fanatics.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES 

A Devout Christian Has His Anti Muslim Prejudice Challenged

I have always prided myself on being open-minded and fair, so it was with both surprise and shock that I read Mona Shadia’s weekly column, “Unveiled: A Muslim Girl in O.C.”

I almost couldn’t believe what I was reading: A Muslim telling me, a Christian, that she and people of her religion give some credence to Jesus.

Shadia refers to passages within the Koran regarding Jesus that reflect the very same beliefs that I hold.

 Because, like most Americans, I hold deep-seeded preconceptions and prejudices, I first read the column with more than a little skepticism. I couldn’t help but think, “Is she putting me on? What’s her game?” I couldn’t help but remember Muslims scoffing at my Bible, and now one of them says they include Jesus Christ in theirs?

As I read, I remembered an imam I saw on TV who told his flock, not only before him, but to the whole Muslim world, not to tell the truth to the infidels, we Christians, because we are not worthy, that in fact it is the Muslims’ duty to mislead and lie to the infidel.

When I read the column again, I thought, “This couldn’t be what that imam meant. Shadia couldn’t/wouldn’t be putting this in print for all the world to see it she didn’t believe it, if it didn’t have some level of truth to it, knowing she could and perhaps would, by those Islamic radical terrorists, be killed for saying such things that go against Muslims and their/her religion and their sacred bible, the Koran.”

You might want to know that I have been one of those individuals who since 9/11 felt justified in believing that Muslims are a people never to be trusted, especially after hearing that imam. I have seen and heard things that has reinforced and ingrained this belief very deeply.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY PILOT

Santorum Wants to Impose ‘Judeo-Christian’ Shari’a Law

Editor’s note: Dean Obeidallah is a comedian who has appeared on Comedy Central’s “Axis of Evil” special, ABC’s “The View,” CNN’s “What the Week” and HLN’s “The Joy Behar Show.” He is executive producer of the annual New York Arab-American Comedy Festival and the Amman Stand Up Comedy Festival. Follow him on Twitter.

(CNN) – There are two Rick Santorums: The first one I might not agree with, but the second one truly scares me.

“Santorum One” pushes for less government regulation for corporations and shrinking the federal government. You may or may not agree with these positions, but they are both mainstream conservative fare.

Then there’s “Santorum Two.” This Santorum wants to impose conservative Christian law upon America. Am I being hyperbolic or overly dramatic with this statement? I wish I were, but I’m not.

Plainly put, Rick Santorum wants to convert our current legal system into one that requires our laws to be in agreement with religious law, not unlike what the Taliban want to do in Afghanistan.

FULL ARTICLE FROM CNN

Conservative Christians Demonizing Muslims? It’s an Old Story

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 spawned a spate of conservative Christian reflections on the essential characteristics of Islam. Figures from Christian Broadcasting Network’s Pat Robertson to Colorado Springs pastor Ted Haggard pointed to the inherently violent nature of Islam. Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell said on 60 Minutes that “Muhammad was a terrorist,” a glib comment that set off riots among Asian Muslims, and earned him a fatwa from an Iranian cleric calling for Falwell’s assassination. As recently as 2006, even Pope Benedict XVI generated a major controversy by making disparaging comments about Islam’s violent history. One might think that these Christians’ views simply represent angry reactions to the horrific violence of 9/11 and ongoing jihadist terror. But a closer look reveals that American Christians have deep-rooted views of Islam as a violent, demonic religion.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE HISTORY NEWS NETWORK

Group that Counts Islam as One of Nation’s Ills to Gather in Detroit, Home of Largest Muslim American Community

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, November 11, 7:10 PM

DETROIT — A group that counts Islam among the ills facing the nation began a 24-hour prayer rally Friday evening in an area with one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States.

The gathering at Ford Field, the stadium where the Detroit Lions play, is designed to tackle issues such as the economy, racial strife, same-sex relationships and abortion. But the decade-old organization known as TheCall has said Detroit is a “microcosm of our national crisis” in all areas, including “the rising tide of the Islamic movement.”5

Leaders of TheCall believe a satanic spirit is shaping all parts of U.S. society, and it must be challenged through intensive Christian prayer and fasting. Such a demonic spirit has taken hold of specific areas, Detroit among them, organizers say. In the months ahead of their rallies, teams of local organizers often travel their communities performing a ritual called “divorcing Baal,” the name of a demon spirit, to drive out the devil from each location.

FULL ARTICLE FROM THE WASHINGTON POST

Evangelical Leaders See Secularism as a Far Greater Threat Than Islam

Despite many who have criticized Islam, Evangelical leaders around the world say they do not see Muslims as as much of a threat to their faith as secularism and popular culture.

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted the survey during what it called a “geographically representative” meeting of global evangelical leaders last year in South Africa.

The survey indicated 47 percent of respondents say Islam is the main threat to evangelical Christianity, but 71 percent put secularism in that category.

Luis Lugo is director of the Pew Forum. “To put it in context, it is not as though it is not seen as a threat, it is just that secularism in its associated practices tend to be seen as much more of a threat,” he said.

FULL ARTICLE FROM VOA NEWS