This past weekend, 3 individuals were charged with burning down a mosque here in Columbia and painting swastikas on the property. I am really saddened (and shocked!) by this recent event. I made some comments for a paper about it. See the link below:
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080211/NEWS06/802110356
I read a few of the comments about the article and let me respond to them by saying that respecting someone else's religion is not the same as endorsing it or even agreeing with it. Respecting someone else's beliefs means realizing that those beliefs were not created in a vacuum but that there is a lifetime of experience associated with those beliefs. I shouldn't expect to change people by condemning their beliefs. I don't change my beliefs when people condemn me. All condemnation does is strengthen my beliefs and makes be even more stubborn about them. But I should seek to understand and relate to someone else's beliefs and show them that I care about their past and that I care about their future. Perhaps then beliefs and behaviors would change in that kind of respectful and caring environment.
I also don't think it's fair to lump all Muslims into one group. It is way to easy to overgeneralize and put someone in a box. I would hope that when someone sees that I label myself a Lutheran, that they don't overgeneralize and write me off as a old, 1940's, jello-eating man who chants and worships using page 5 and 15 every-other week.
Maybe I'm being too simplistic. Maybe I'm living in a dream world. But I do hold out hope that by having an open and honest discussion that hearts might be changed for Christ.
