Christianity, Islam, and Hate

John Esposito’s responses to Michael Coren are a model of clarity, wisdom, and civility in the context of profound disagreement … worth reading both for content and style.
Quotable:

“Esposito, founding director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, thinks Coren is correct to speak of Jesus as a man of peace, “but he conveniently overlooks the practice of some popes, and other Christian leaders in terms of religious persecution, violence and wars,” he says.
“Moreover, I presume Coren accepts the Old Testament as part of the Bible and the Christian tradition. If so, then he must be aware of Old Testament passages and the instances of not only violence but even passages calling for genocide.
“Similarly when he writes of Muhammad he has surely not forgotten the military role of prophets like Joshua, Samuel and David.”
Esposito says Coren should also take note of the “anti-Muslim racism” of hardline Christian leaders like Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham and John Hagee.
“I (and others) as both a scholar and a Christian would disagree with the brush-stroking and collective guilt associated with that kind of reductionism.”