Over coffee this morning a friend told me about a successful outreach program he is involved with that brings Jews, Muslims, and Christians together. His story is very reassuring in light of the battle over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero. La Convivencia, of which I have written much about, can come about in the 21st century, but we need people like my friend to help it along.
I have invited him to blog about this program, so I’ll hold off on details, other than to point out that this program draws hundreds to his synagogue each year, in addition to the good relationships that have developed among committee members.
Yesterday I watched a CNN report about the Ground Zero mosque. The mosque is an issue with plenty of heated debate. I watched a report where one supporter claimed that all opposition was, “Islamaphobia pure and simple.” Others claimed that the mosque was part of a carefully planned effort on the part of radical Islamists.
I have to immediately discount the person claiming that all of the opposition was Islamaphobia. That is an extremist view and with that, nothing else that person has to say has any value. No doubt there is Islamaphobia involved, but there are also many legitimate concerns. I also have to challenge the claim that this is a plan by radical Islamists. I have too much evidence that a moderate Islam exists; an Islam that finds violence repugnant and in opposition to their beliefs. At some point, We the People have got to build a relationship with the moderates that welcomes them into this great melting pot of religious freedom AND the respect for the rights of others to believe differently. The world needs more Islamists with these values and We the People can help Islam develop these values through outreach.
My friend, the one involved in the successful outreach program, just might have some ideas on this. He has demonstrated an understanding of La Convivencia and the realization that it can and must be brought about, again. I hope the folks debating the Ground Zero Mosque and those at New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission find some of my friend within themselves.
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For more on La Conviviencia go to:
Obama, Israel – Palestine, and A Dream Leading to Peace
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Can Be Broken By a Dream
Israeli-Palestinian Peace – La Convivencia II
{ 4 comments }
At the root of this opposition to mosques is the fear that Islam might just not be the religion of peace that our misguided political leaders say it is or that Islamic spokesmen from the MAS and other organizations say it is. There is a fear that Islam is not just another religion like Christianity or Buddhism or whatever. These fears are well-founded, but because of general ignorance of the doctrines of Islam, people can’t be sure. In fact, Islam is NOT a religion like other religions; and Islamic scholars are the first ones to say so. For example, Yusuf Qaradawi (the most influential Muslim cleric in the world today, the spiritual head of the Muslim Brotherhood) said: “Islam is not a religion in the common, distorted meaning of the word, confining its scope only to the private life of man. By saying that it is a complete way of life, we mean that it caters for all the fields of human existence. In fact, Islam provides guidance for all walks of life — individual and social, material and moral, economic and political, legal and cultural, national and international.” This “complete way of life” is the Sharia sacred Islamic law which calls for the legal subordination of non-Moslems to Moslems and of women to men; it requires death for homosexuals, apostates and blasphemers. And, it calls for eternal war (jihad) against non-Moslems until Islamic law dominates throughout the world. These doctrines all come from the Koran and the sayings of Muhammad which are preached and taught in every mosque in the world, and will be taught in the proposed mosques. People questioning the new mosques need to understand why Islam is unique and not like other religions. Then they would know that mosques are not like churches because mosques are centers for the propagation of sharia law. If Islam is not like other religions, it should not be treated like other religions. If mosques are not like churches and other houses of prayer, then mosques should not be treated like other houses of prayer. Mosques are centers for the propagation of Islamic supremacist ideology, and they should be treated like other centers for the propagation of a supremacist, violent, imperialist ideology, such as the Communist Party or the Nazi Party.
I agree with Abdul.
If this Muslim community in NYC is truly interested in inter faith dialogue and communication, they would not be interested in putting a Mosque at the site where Muslims in the name of Islam killed thousands of Americans. By selecting this site and not understanding how insulting this is shows intollarance and insensativity.
This is not an issue of Islamaphobia it is a issue of repect. If any other religion commited this horrible act I would be just as equally appalled if they wanted to build a religous building at the same site location that others in the name of that same religion killed thousands.
AMERICAN ARE SO NAIVE ABOUT ISLAM! ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION! IT IS A VERY INTOLERANT POLITICAL AND MILITANT IDEOLOGY THAT SEEKS TO CONTROL THE VERY LIVES OF INDIVIDUALS….JUST LOOK AT HOW IRAN IS CONTROLLING WHAT TYPES OF “HAIRCUTS” MEN ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE! THAT IS CONTROL FREAKDOM!
ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS THE TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD AND THE HADITH IS ON AN INEVITABLE PATH TO VIOLENCE. PERIOD. JUST READ IT FOR YOURSELF!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ISLAM,
GOOGLE: AMERICAN THINKER SHARIA LAW