On Fort Hood …
My Muslim friend Eboo Patel offers a powerful response to the killings here ...
One of the ten questions in my upcoming book deals with religious identity, pluralism, tolerance, and interfaith dialogue. In light of my earlier post about a group of Christians in Ohio joyfully burning books and even Bibles (because they weren't the King James Version!) ... I wonder if there would have been an uproar if a group of Muslims had burned those Bibles. Why won't there be an uproar when it is fellow Christians?
I hope every reader of this blog will respond to the Fort Hood shootings (and every act of religious bigotry, racial intolerance, sexual stereotyping and prejudice, unequal treatment of gay folks, etc.) by rededicating themselves to follow the example of Jesus: move toward "the other" with love and respect. Don't fear, avoid, dehumanize, stigmatize, or allow bigoted statements to go unchallenged, but instead, have a cup of tea, take a walk, exchange dinner invitations, hear their stories, and treat "the other" as you would be treated. Learn to see "the other" as your neighbor, and respond as Christ taught.
And if you're starting to see how important this issue of interfaith friendship is, how about reading my friend Samir Selmanovic's important book too ... available here?
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Why more of us are speaking up on nuclear reduction and disarmament …
Good reasons after the jump from Tyler Wigg-Stevenson ...
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Countdown Day 66
When the Roman emperor Constantine converted (the story goes) to Christianity and Christianity then entered into a troubling alliance with his Roman Empire … unity of belief became politically useful – and enforceable. So the empire that had crucified Jesus now claimed to be the agent, patron, and police force of a newly dominant Christian religion…. The Roman Empire could thus claim to be validated by the God of the Christians, not just the ancient Greco-Roman pantheon. (12)
From A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith (available February 9, 2010)
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More on Baptists … and Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Methodists too!
In reference to my posting emergent AND baptist a few days ago, check out the Baptimergent site here.
And to all the Lutherans out there who feel you're always getting passed over (I plead guilty of doing so in AGO - I beg for Lutheran mercy!), check out this!
I just returned from a wonderful time with Presbyterians in the Shenandoah Valley - what good and hopeful people. And an added bonus was a delightful day with Shenandoah University in Winchester (a Methodist school) ... a most meaningful worship service and a warm and vibrant community of students and staff. The students in the Just Faith program were awesome!
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Crying like a baby …
I continue to receive - and be moved by - emails like this one ... (after the jump)
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