Facilitating dialogue to promote open and multi-faceted discussion and awareness

One of Jesus’ apostles once said something to the effect of, “Without love, your Christian witness is meaningless. It is an abomination.” In the Western world, be we Jew, Christian, or Muslim, we have lost the path of Love and ventured too far down the road seeking Truth.

In the West, the primary concern of the Church is not how to solve the problem of Suffering inherent in all men, but, Truth. In the East, suffering is very much an accepted part of life and the focus is placed on Love. For example, if you go to India and share with a Hindu follower a “truth,” he’ll most likely accept what you say with a casual shrug and a nod. In the West, if you go to someone and do the same, you’ll most likely start a nasty argument. The social rule about never talking politics or religion in a bar comes to mind.

In most denominations of Christianity, in particular, Truth leads to personal holiness. A strong “We’re right and you’re wrong,” followed up with an unholy condemnation is common. One quick looks at the attitudes of one denomination towards another, Protestantism versus Catholicism, in general, or the more relevant problem of Protestant Christianity versus the Islamic world as a whole shed more than enough light on the subject.

These “truth claims” have caused endless problems throughout history. You have the Jewish subjugation of the peoples of Palestine in the Torah, the Christian Crusades, the beheadings that were rampant throughout Post-reformation Europe, the Spanish Inquisition, the Islamic Jihads versus America and Europe or the Hindu peoples leading to bloody conflict, death, and suffering throughout the Western World.

In the West, we get so caught up in the intellectualism of our faith and the pride involved therein, that we forget Jesus’ message. Our contemporaries in the East, from which a lot of his lessons seem to be inspired, don’t have such a problem. My World Religions professor, Dr. Alexander joked in class one evening, “Burn a (Bhagavad) Gita and big deal, you have a barbecue. Burn a Koran and you have a war.” This joke seems like current event satire on the surface (see current issue of “Koran Burning and Ground Zero Islamic Center”), but, speaks of a bigger issue plaguing our theology.

In the 2000 years since Jesus’ ministry shook the very foundations of the most powerful Empire in the world, reformed a faith set down by God’s Chosen People, and altered the course of the world for 1000s of years… we forgot one simple truth, in itself…

Love is more important than Truth. Love IS Truth.

Jesus sought to balance the two. He asks of us to love our enemies. Bless those that harm us. Do not judge them.

We’re called to hold hands with the Muslims and the Jews, our conquerors and oppressors, our homeless and destitute, our widows, orphans, and those aliens in our lands, for they are our brothers under the same God. We’re called not to hate those that do not believe, those that do, but, think differently, and everything in between. Jesus calls us to lead by example and that example is Love.

Allow me to illustrate my point with something from current events.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee, population 100,000 – 30 miles south of Nashville, a large Baptist Christian center in America, a “gateway city” for refugee’s from the Persian Gulf War, a place with a booming Muslim population and anti-Muslim sentiment alike. Here, of all places, an ecumenical fairy tale is being realized. The Grace Baptist Church is helping the Murfreesboro Islamic Center by assisting them in building their new mosque on the property adjacent to their new facilities. Not only this, but, they’re currently sharing their space with the Islamic congregation.

The Center’s new construction has received harsh treatment from local Tea Party activists and many others caught up in renewed anti-Islamic sentiment stirred up by the anniversary of 9/11 and the publicity stunt of Gainesville, FL Pastor Rev. Jones’ threat to burn Korans in response to the mosque building near Ground Zero. Various other mosque building attempts have been blocked in nearby towns across Nashville’s suburbs. To go one further, Tenn. Lt. Gov. Rob Ramsey is quoted making this ridiculous statement, “You could even argue whether being Muslim is actually a religion or is it a nationality, a way of life or cult? Whatever you call it…” and Republican Congressional Candidate Lou Ann Zelcnik said the Center “is part of a movement designed to fracture the moral and political foundations of middle Tennessee.” Needless to say, both lost their bids. It’s a wonder such things are in the state they are with such ignorance fueling our politics, but, I digress.

To this writer, the Christians at Grace Baptist Church have the message right. They act out of love to their neighbor Muslims, respecting them as people and loving them as children of God despite their beliefs, the actions of other extremist Muslims, or the actions and bias of fellow Christians.

We are after all, only human… though, I feel that if Jesus could see us now, he’d look at the world, hold out his hands and with a shake of the head and deep sigh say, “Dudes… it all went way over your heads.”

(Photos courtesy of Time Magazine and View Askew Productions)