A comment

A comment on "Muslims as neighbors"

A visitor comments on "Muslims as neighbors"

The Rev. Robert Campbell sends his comments on the Rev. Alex Awad's essay about his (Awad's) view - as a Christian living among Palestinian Muslims - that American conservative Christians are harming the cause of Christ among Muslims by their hostile rhetoric.

We've also received a comment, apparently responding to this essay, from a Christian in Pakistan. [9-18-02]

[9-13-02]

Dear Doug:

A couple of comments on the article by Alex Awad.

First, I agree with him. We need to be Christians and love all people, even those who fly jets into buildings. Further, we need to recognize that the average Muslim on the street in any primarily Muslim country is poor, undereducated, and subject to the rhetoric of zealots. Ask Christians in Pakistan about their condition. They are under constant threat by their neighbors who simply have to say that this Christian tried to convert me and that person goes to jail. And American policies overseas don't help. The average Muslim in Pakistan sees Saddam Hussein as a hero fighting against Western immorality.

I also think that a war against Iraq is the height of stupidity. It certainly doesn't meet just war criteria, particularly the last item about success. If America wants to revisit the problems of Vietnam, sending troops into the streets of Baghdad is a good way to start. On top of that, the Sanctions against Iraq has destroyed the middle class, killed babies, and strengthened Saddam Hussein's hand by allowing him to blame the misery on the United States.

Those issues aside, I think our brother in Christ Alex missed a few points. First, Islam started out as an evangelical/military religion. If Mohammed had simply sent missionaries out across the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe Alex's analysis might be completely true. The original Muslims, however, converted by the sword. Some of your readers may remember Charles Martel who defeated a Muslim army in France thus preventing the conquering of Europe and the end of Western Christianity. The military conflicts between so called Christian nations and Muslim nations began long before the Crusades. The Muslims seem to forget about that.

And yes, for many centuries Christians and Jews were well treated in Muslim countries. Nevertheless they were second class citizens. For example, the testimony of a Christian or Jew against a Muslim was never taken seriously. The Muslim was always considered to be the truth teller unless other Muslims testified against him.

I think there is no justification for the Crusades. They were foolish, brutal wars fought for reasons that had nothing to do with Christianity. The Crusades were really about economic access to the far east. While many who fought may have done so out of faith in Christ, they drastically misunderstood the nature of Christianity. Furthermore, the sacking of Byzantium during the first Crusade suggests that there were less than Christian motives involved.

A second important point. Most Muslims around the world do not believe in any separation of Church and State. Consider the application of Muslim law in Nigeria, Pakistan, and across much of the Middle East. Consider the attacks on Christian villages in the Muluccas. Consider, for that matter, something that our brother Alex does not mention: the desecration of the Church of the Nativity and the use of Christian villages and houses to shoot at Jewish settlements. Consider the lack of freedom for Christians to worship at all in Saudi Arabia. Consider the attacks on Christians and the destruction of church buildings in Egypt. Most Muslim countries, with the exception of Turkey, never went through any kind of division between religious institutions and government. They certainly never went through the part of the Enlightenment that encouraged religious toleration.

All this is to suggest that the whole question of Christian/Muslim relations is a bit more complicated than anyone, Evangelicals like Franklin Graham, or our brother Alex suggest. Careful listening to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted for their faith is an important first step in Christian/Muslim dialogue. Understanding the whole history of Christian/Muslim relations going back to the beginning is another important step. More important, and maybe most important, understanding the effects of British and French colonialism throughout the 19th Century and the promise breaking of the British following W.W.II (to both Jews and Arabs) about Israel/Palestine is another critical piece.

Finally, we Christians in the West need to hear our Muslim friends and even the radicals. The United States is identified as the great Satan not just because of our foreign policy but because of the immoral messages we send out on TV.

While Brother Alex made many important points, I think we need to consider the whole picture.

In Christ

Robert Campbell, pastor
First Presbyterian Church
Titusville, NJ

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A comment from Pakistan:

On being Christian in a Muslim society

A comment from Pakistan [9-18-02]

We received this note apparently in response to the essay by the Rev. Awad, speaking as a Palestinian Christian to American Christians.

09.13.02

In United States you have just started to think about Muslims and in more than 55 years you have never thought of Christians who are suffering at the hands of Muslims. You gave them extra freedom that resulted in an explosion in WTC in 1993 and now we can't see WTC at all. These people are "cancer" for world peace. You want freedom and peace. Keep away from them or you will keep thinking and they will do some thing that you are not expecting like 9/11.

A Christian from a Muslim society.