Evangelical Reformation

Recently leaders of the Muslim community wrote an open letter addressed to Christians entitled “A Common Word between Us and You,” calling us to work together for the common good based on the mutually shared commitments of both communities to love of God and of neighbor. A group of Christian leaders, including some evangelicals, formulated a response that they called “Loving God and Neighbor Together.”

My purpose in this post is to express the following concerns related to this Christian response:

• “A Common Word between Us and You” keeps referring to a line from the Koran regarding God which asserts that “He has no associates.” That sounds very much like a repudiation of the Trinity and the deity of Christ. Though this term is discussed, this discussion does little to assuage concerns that this language might constitute a rejection of Christ’s deity. We must have their assurance that this is not the intent of this language before we proceed. We must insist on that as a condition for working together.

• The “Loving God and Neighbor Together” response extends a groveling apology about the Crusades— a misguided attempt at humility. As we look over the history of Islam and Christianity, we have done substantially better than they have in conveying the love of God and neighbor. Had they begun by owning up to their shortcomings, perhaps this response might find warrant. They did not. Therefore, this apology leaves the impression that Christianity has failed in the area of love while Islam has succeeded. Though the church’s record is stained, it has done a far better job of manifesting love of God and neighbor than any other institution in history. Therefore, such an impression impugns the name of Jesus, the Lord of the church.

• This misrepresentation of the record leads to my third objection to the Christian response. “A Common Word between Us and You,” which recounts the commitment of Islam to love of God and neighbor, fails to address the deafening silence of the Islamic community in the face of atrocities committed in the name of their religion. If they believe in love of God and neighbor, where is their condemnation of their Islamic brothers who are murdering innocent people in cold blood, and continue to do so? Where is their disassociation from them and from their behavior? Though there has been some denunciation, it has been far too weak to be meaningful. I remember the memorial service convened in Washington, DC, after 9/11, which included a Muslim cleric. I waited for any repudiation at all of the horrendous deeds that have been perpetrated in the name of Allah. None were forthcoming. Nor does this document seem to notice the continuing atrocities. To write this letter to us without first addressing that issue, and without addressing it in the letter, represents the grossest form of insincerity, especially since the bloodletting in the name of Allah continues. And what of the Muslim nations that make becoming a Christian a crime or the inequities of sharia law or the widespread preaching of hate? This unloving behavior that seems to be an integral part of the practice of Islam in much of today’s Muslim world should have been addressed in any Christian response. Where was it? What is the point of dialogue about love if they are not willing to display love of neighbor by confronting the ongoing, widespread destruction of neighbor by their fellow Muslims? The failure of the Christians responding to their letter to address this issue constitutes a betrayal by them of brothers and sisters in Christ and others who suffer mercilessly at the hands of Muslims with no significant outcry from the Muslim community or its leadership.

It is my hope that stronger evangelical leadership will rise up to provide a better response to this offer to work together extended by Islamic clerics.

My last post introduced the contemporary evangelical tension between the use of psychology and the Bible in dealing with problems. I stated that I would continue with that topic, and I plan to do so. However, a current development in the Muslim world relates to a recent posting regarding Islam, and therefore I believe that this issue needs attention.

I had discussed problems with the representation of Islam as a peaceful religion, citing among other factors the failure of mainstream Muslims to distance themselves from, and express opposition to, the heinous acts of radical Muslims.

One breaking story represents a major departure from this typical Muslim silence. This development is of special importance because it is occurring in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, and also because it entails highly visible and influential manifestations of Islam in that nation.

This development begins with the account I reported to you earlier of the arrest, conviction, and sentencing to three years imprisonment of three Sunday school teachers for seeking to convert Muslim children. As I noted in describing this case, what the women did was clearly within the law, and the attempts of Muslims to obstruct the judicial process was overt and flagrant. Therefore, their conviction and sentencing was a travesty.

The women have now appealed. What is of special interest is the outpouring of opposition to those radicals who want them punished from high-profile segments of the Muslim community. The World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission reports that the intolerance demonstrated by these radical Muslims, and the extremist ideology driving it, has produced a schism in the Indonesian Muslim community.

Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is president of the Nahdlatul Ulama, has rejected this extremist ideology and has issued a strong condemnation of the recent violence against Christians and their churches. The Nahdlatul Ulama is the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia and boasts more than 40 million members.

Indonesia’s Democratic Education Association also has condemned this ideology as “unconstitutional” and has urged the government to uphold the people’s constitutional rights. They urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration “to be proactive in maintaining pluralism” instead of caving in to radical Muslim teaching.

The appeal by these three imprisoned women serves as a test case to see if these shrill voices and radical concepts of Muslim extremists will prevail, or whether the more moderate position described above and the rule of law will triumph. In any case, it is heartening that in Indonesia some prominent Muslim voices are being raised against extremism. If these voices are heard and heeded, Indonesia might serve as a model that other Muslim countries might emulate. Perhaps this Muslim call for justice instead of terrorism may serve as a crack in the armor of Muslim extremism.

The names Rebekka Zakaria, Eti Pangesti and Ratna Bangun would not mean much to American evangelicals because they are not, well . . . . Americans. So the fact that yesterday these dear Indonesian sisters in Christ were given three-year prison sentences for their ministry for Him gets little attention by the evangelical community. Thankfully, this type of information is available on web sites such as Compass Direct.

These ladies ran a Sunday school program that was so popular that Muslim children wanted to attend. The program was operated in accordance with Indonesian laws, and Muslim children were required to get permission from their parents. In fact, some of the parents were photographed with their children at the Sunday school facility. Nonetheless, the women were found guilty under the “Child Protection Act of 2002,” which forbids “deception, lies or enticement,” this despite the fact that none of the children converted to Christianity. None of the parents who authorized their children to attend the school would testify on behalf of these ladies.

This perversion of justice no doubt was influenced by the mobs outside of the courtroom threatening to kill the defendants, witnesses, and judges, if the women were found innocent. Judges were instructed that their own blood would be shed if the women were not found guilty. On the day of sentencing, the mob brought a casket that was to be used for the defendants in the event that they were found innocent. Police were required to prevent the mob from killing these women.

Who knows what awaits these women in an Indonesian prison. One fears inhumanities of all sorts, and they would not be the first Christian inmates of Muslim prisons to be murdered for their faith. Most of all, these mothers are heartbroken at the prospect of being separated from their children, ranging in age from six to 19.

All this exposes the dishonesty in framing of Islam as a religion of peace. I use the word dishonesty advisedly. This is not a matter of misunderstanding. It represents an intentional ignoring of the facts and misrepresentation of the situation.

Several factors demonstrate the failure of Islam as a religion of peace and justice. The standard defense for Islam is that these inhumanities and injustices are perpetrated by the radical element and do not represent the position of mainstream Islam. Even for a moment conceding that point, it raises the question of why Islam produces so many radicals. How does this religion of peace find so many volunteers willing to blow themselves to smithereens in order to gain the privilege of blowing innocent men, women, and children to smithereens?

But back to the argument that all the hatred and injustice is attributed to a radical fringe, this is a hard position to support. For example, if that were true, how do we explain the recent election of a radical Islamic government in Iran? That outcome conveys that the general Islamic public is favorable toward radical Islam. After 9/11, was it only radical Palestinians dancing in the streets?

Equally as troubling is the silence on the part of the Muslim community regarding the atrocities of these radicals? I still recall the national worship service televised following 9/11. I waited in vain for the participating Muslim cleric to express his abhorrence of what had been done—to distance himself from the “radical element” that had perpetrated such atrocities. The deafening silence has become the norm for the Islamic community. I’m sure that some Muslim somewhere has expressed repugnance, but any such voices represent a very tiny minority.

One might try to give mainstream Islam a pass because of threats to those who would oppose terrorists. However, this would be saying that Islam fails to instill the courage of conviction. It seems to instill plenty of that for inflicting hatred. The fact that it lacks the capacity to instill in corresponding courage to stand for truth and love is telling.

Beyond that, if the Muslim community would rise up as a whole in its condemnation of the “radical fringe,” this would make it difficult for radicals to respond, and it would serve to marginalize them. However, the fact is that Islam has not produced this broad brushed indignation toward evil.

The multiculturalists would have us believe that all religions are the same. The message they really want to convey is that there is nothing special about Christianity. One consistent position embraced by liberals that underlies their entire philosophical position is a hatred toward Jesus Christ and all who would represent Him.

Oh, how they love to point back to the Crusades to make the case that we are actually worse than the Muslims. Usually, to make their point, they misrepresent the history and theology of that era. Nonetheless, there is a certain comfort to their tacit confession that they must go back eight hundred years to make a case against us. If they were honest, they would only have to go back as far as yesterday and the perversion of justice perpetrated against those three Indonesian women to make a case against Islam.

How do Christianity and Islam stack up? No comparison.