A long time ago, I thought there was no way I could ever be a Christ follower, because most of the "Christians" I had encountered talked about fire and brimstone and if you're not one of us you're going to hell type crap that I still don't believe. When I finally decided I kinda wanted to know what it was all about, I knew that in order to not be the hypocrite I always took "them" for, I'd have to open my mind, read the Bible myself and make up my own mind about what it said. I had to come at it from a place of study and contemplation and logic. I've never had a revelatory experience like some people who are very close to me, in fact, I envy them for theirs, but I know God exists because I know people who have experienced miracles. And I've had prayers answered, no matter how small, as well. Now, let me preface the next part with the comment that I don't plan on becoming a Muslim any time soon. However, I am an anthropologist. Regardless of whether it is or ever will be my profession as such, it is who I am through and through. I want to know people and why they are who they are and what makes them tick. A very large part of that, for many people, is religion, beliefs, and convictions. I will not again judge a religion based on the outlandish actions of a minority of its followers or a few verses of its text taken out of context because my faith has suffered that same treatment and it makes me sad and angry that, not only do those people not understand the bigger picture, which as those who believe in the New Testament of the Bible and Christ know, is a love story--a story of redemption and forgiveness and hope. They don't want to see it and refuse to see it because it doesn't suit their preconceived notion of an angry, jealous, vindictive god, the god of the old testament, the god of the ancient Hebrews, not of the world, as he came to be through Christ.
I know very little about Islam, but I have met a few Muslims. I have heard their frustration as they defend their faith, as Christians sometimes have to defend theirs, against misrepresentation based on the actions of a relative few. Unfortunately, those few are really, really loud, and do really, really shitty things, and have a tendency to get a lot of attention from the news media who only seem to focus on whoever yells the loudest or causes the most harm (or pays the most?). Zealotry is gross, by several definitions, yet we continue to celebrate it and glorify it. After all, it gets good ratings. Dr. Agustín Fuentes at Notre Dame has a pretty good take on this, saying in effect, at a lecture he gave at IPFW, that it gets our adrenaline pumping when someone points and yells "Look! There's a fight!" It's a lot more effective than, "Look! They're playing nicely together!" even though that happens WAAAAAY more frequently.
So, while I'm not planning on converting to Islam any time soon, I do want to learn about it and read the Quran for myself to find out what it says, just like I did with the Bible. Because, while I could choose to read those blurbs that some of my facebook friends have posted about the violence inherent in the religion as evidenced by lines of their scriptures taken out of context, I could also remind those who post those outtakes that there are plenty of calls to violence in our own book, and people still today who act on them... but that's not the whole story. It's not the real story. And it's certainly not the part of the story we want anyone to focus on as Christians or Christ followers who are just trying to live our peaceful, normal lives.
What it all boils down to is this: If you believe in God--that is, a creator god--and are part of a monotheistic religion, then you necessarily believe that God created the world. The whole world. And that he/she/it/they created ALL the people in the world (and for our purposes, the details and timeline are unimportant). According to the Bible, God created us in His/Her/Its/Their image and likeness, and that ultimately, He/She/It/They has/have it all under control. All this diversity? All these different skin tones and languages and cultures and beliefs? Do you really believe that's by accident? I don't. I believe that we're all parts of that divine creation and that divine existence. I believe that all of us, every person on the planet, is a reflection of God and part of the puzzle. And as a Christ follower, I believe that we are called--in fact commanded--to love each other, not to judge each other, regardless of our/their transgressions. We were given an example and told God is Love. So LOVE!!
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