If there is one thing I greatly admire about you, it would have to be your ability to see the good in pretty much everything. I, for one, do not share your positive view of Islam. To me, I see no difference between it and any other pagan belief. To me, a false god is a false god, even if a religion appears to teach a form of monotheism that happens to share some remote similarities to the Truth. I pray that I may one day share your optimistic views.
Thank you. I try always to remember that we are all God's children, and to comprehend what Our Lord meant when he told us to do that hardest of things - to love our enemies. I know that to hate them is actually to harm oneself; we become smaller and more bitter when we hate; we are less like Him.
I do not claim that I can be consistent in always doing this - only that the effort to try to do it is always worth while.
I am also mindful of how easy it is for one in the west to make make pronouncements on such matters - but how it is those elsewhere, such as in Egypt, who have to live with the daily reality of life in a Muslim country.
I do see where you are coming from, and don't dissent. On the other hand, when one sees how many in the west live now, one can see why some young people convert to Islam as a means of living a purer life; this, of course, has its sadness - since it shows that we have failed to reach such people. Those who search for an 'Eastern mysticism' only have to look towards our Church to see the real thing. But I do believe that when we present the world with the love He gives us, we offer it the healing it so badly needs.
One notes, for example, the very bad press which Islam gets in the west as a result of its various persecutions in places like Egypt; contrast that with the reputation of the Copts, which stand high - in part because they do not retaliate, plant bombs, or kill people. The witness of the Coptic Christians has been, and is, that of the suffering servant; but it is the blood of the martyrs that is the seedbed of the Faith. We see now, clearly enough, that those faiths which can only spread by force or by arms never really take root.
The fact, whether we approve or not, is that Islam has flourished for more than a thousand years. We cannot know why He allows this, but we know His reason will be the right one. I admit to the dilemma you describe - but remember to try to love the sinner. But I do take your well-made point about wrong belief - and pray that those who do not have the comfort of His Grace will be able to acquire it.
Comments
John,
If there is one thing I greatly admire about you, it would have to be your ability to see the good in pretty much everything. I, for one, do not share your positive view of Islam. To me, I see no difference between it and any other pagan belief. To me, a false god is a false god, even if a religion appears to teach a form of monotheism that happens to share some remote similarities to the Truth. I pray that I may one day share your optimistic views.
Thank you. I try always to remember that we are all God's children, and to comprehend what Our Lord meant when he told us to do that hardest of things - to love our enemies. I know that to hate them is actually to harm oneself; we become smaller and more bitter when we hate; we are less like Him.
I do not claim that I can be consistent in always doing this - only that the effort to try to do it is always worth while.
I am also mindful of how easy it is for one in the west to make make pronouncements on such matters - but how it is those elsewhere, such as in Egypt, who have to live with the daily reality of life in a Muslim country.
I do see where you are coming from, and don't dissent. On the other hand, when one sees how many in the west live now, one can see why some young people convert to Islam as a means of living a purer life; this, of course, has its sadness - since it shows that we have failed to reach such people. Those who search for an 'Eastern mysticism' only have to look towards our Church to see the real thing. But I do believe that when we present the world with the love He gives us, we offer it the healing it so badly needs.
One notes, for example, the very bad press which Islam gets in the west as a result of its various persecutions in places like Egypt; contrast that with the reputation of the Copts, which stand high - in part because they do not retaliate, plant bombs, or kill people. The witness of the Coptic Christians has been, and is, that of the suffering servant; but it is the blood of the martyrs that is the seedbed of the Faith. We see now, clearly enough, that those faiths which can only spread by force or by arms never really take root.
The fact, whether we approve or not, is that Islam has flourished for more than a thousand years. We cannot know why He allows this, but we know His reason will be the right one. I admit to the dilemma you describe - but remember to try to love the sinner. But I do take your well-made point about wrong belief - and pray that those who do not have the comfort of His Grace will be able to acquire it.
In Christ,
John