Wednesday, September 11, 2002

e-church com.munity weblog Tim of e-church expresses a prayer of many seekers after unity: "The problem is that I fear many churches -- instead of preaching grace -- will cultivate misunderstandings of Islam. I hope our services this week reflect the nature of the gospel more than our nationalism. I hope that pastors will use this opportunity to challenge our unilateralism, prejudices, and hatred. Instead, I fear, pulpits will be used to reinforce these attitudes -- giving them a spiritual dimension. A great opportunity for growth will be lost." It saddens me that more churches,  especially now,  are not emphasizing a movement to appreciate the spirituality of Islam (the Islam that its most dedicated adherents want us to know,  not the Islam used by those who would use it to their own ends of revenge and thirst for power).   It befuddles me that conservative churches are somehow afraid of highlighting some real spirtual values of Islam--- they fear that people will be converted to Islam in one sitting,  or in a short study series?  What does that say about our confidence in the faith we have supposedly instilled in our members?  Perhaps if they would seek conversion to Islam,  it would tell us what need is being addressed there which we are not addressing.  For me,  the movement of God is universal,  and always has been.  People of different times and different cultures,  surrounded by a particular cultural and physical environment,  perceive the movement of the spirit and seek to understand it using the archetypes and mythologies that are passed on to them.  Huston Smith's World Religion book (which Bill Moyers made into a series) was such a good "survey",  and from the perspective of a American Christian Methodist,  was moved enough by some of his discoveries of the why and how of diverse relgious practices,  that he brought some of them home with him.  Some consider this "syncretistic" and therefore blasphemous.  They only have to look deeper into the history of various groups in Chrisgtian history to find fellow travelers who used accomodated some of the same practices into their own Christian pilgrimage. comment [] 7:23:36 AM

I'm wearing this instead of just Red,White and Blue today This is my favorite T-Shirt and daughter, Kelli (4), from the post I put up on Labor Day, Sept.2. Janet asked me today if I was going to wear my "Citizen of the World" shirt, and I said, "Yeah, that woudl be good." On a day like today, when it's nothing but "Let's remember by flying the flag and USA this and USA that, let's remember that this is not about one country or another, but about global relationship problems. BIG problems. Revving up "patriotic" engines is part of what throws salt in the wound. I'm not saying that anything about Sept.11 was deserved or was punishment or anything like a "lesson". It's just that if we don't care what salt we are heaving into whatever wounds,  then perhaps we don't really care to try and figure out some realistic ways to avoid such violent backlashes in the future.   It was evil. Part of my response is to affirm the interdependence of the world's people. comment [] 7:21:00 AM

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