Islam, the Exception

Terry Jones of "Burn a Koran Day" fame

I stumbled upon Ruben Israel's Facebook page today. For those of you unaware, Ruben is a self-professed "street preacher," who has interpreted the apostle Paul's words in Colossians 4 ("Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt...") to actually mean "people won't listen to the Gospel unless you employ a megaphone with plenty of threats with eternal repercussions."

I'm no stranger to aggressive street-preaching. During my undergrad work at Portland State, I had plenty of exposure to these men, who came in groups of three to five, one being the designated screamer, the others holding massive placards listing the innumerable ways to earn oneself a place in Hell. Apparently, God has even seen fit to judge one's political or economic preference, as I vividly recall the inclusion of "DEMOCRATS" and "SOCIALISTS" as those ensured a fiery fate.

I am, however, pleased to say that this extremely aggressive approach to soul-winning is a scant minority within the Evangelical Christian movement, and hence I'm usually inclined to meet it with little more than an eye-roll and a shrug (Plus, reasoning with a man who has convinced himself of his own sinlessness is an achingly fruitless endeavor).

What caught my eye on Ruben's facebook page, and which grieves me to no end, is the enduring strain of Christianity which has decided that Christ's words on enemy love ("But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Matt. 5:44) apparently do not apply to Muslims. It's fascinating that while even the most well-meaning, educated Christian, who questions nearly every media-fueled presupposition thrust upon our culture, will nevertheless swallow the "MUSLIMS ARE TERRORISTS" stereotype with gleeful aplomb.

Apologies to my Muslim readers.

Images such as this one grace Mr. Israel's page, accompanied by such comments as "My favorite Ramadan food!" and "Should be ground up and put in all western societies public water. That should help stop the invasive species that are muslims." Now, I can only hope that such comments come from those who don't ascribe to the Christian faith, but what if they do? It's all too easy to mitigate such venom with excuses such as "They aren't REAL Christians like me," but how could I possibly know such a thing? Undoubtedly, I've done my fair share of detestable things in life which could have easily earned such a statement from a far more pious and well-behaved believer, so it, apparently, is not that easy.

So what of such imagery? It is deplorable, indeed, and intentionally insulting, widely offensive, and reeking of a sort of adolescent badgering which no adult, Christian or non, should engage in. Does it warrant violent repercussions from the Muslim however? Of course not, but that's hardly the point. We should no more engage in such tactics against Muslims due to what they might do than we should not antagonize anyone for the fact that they may react in a sinful manner. And to flip the issue, the Christian does not refrain from such antagonism simply due to fear of violence, but for the love which we simply must pour out to all.

You are evil! Come to my church!

It seems that out of all the competing worldviews today's Christian faces, Islam stands alone as the one in which we have been given a "no love necessary" card. Understandably, much of this arises from an extreme black and white view of the Israel-Palestine conflict, in which Palestinian Muslims are akin to Satanic agents bent upon the destruction of God's people, and who thus are painted in a sort of demonic light whereas Christ's love does not apply.  One beauty of the Gospel, however, is its stark simplicity. Are some Muslims terrorists? Yes. Do some Muslims which to enact Sharia in America and the world? Of course. Would some Muslims love to see the destruction of the Christian religion? Definitely. Are they exempt from the love of Christ? The answer is, of course, never.

New friends in Egypt

I agree wholeheartedly that burning down embassies and engaging in murder in reaction to an offensive cartoon is utterly absurd, sick, and wrong. And conversely, I hold such intentional offensiveness to be both childish and abrasive. If the follower of Christ is to be, in Jesus' words, "a light of the world," it follows that we should avoid intentional antagonism of others, and instead do our best to ensure that our speech and actions manifests the words of Paul in Philippians: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things." 


Obviously we need to do our best in combating injustices, and speaking out boldly against those who would perpetrate acts of violence in the name of God. Similarly, we should "speak the truth in love" to all Muslims, accepting the reality that they may never listen, and that the extension of love to strangers and enemies is not conditional upon their acceptance of our message.

They are out there.

But so are they: Muslim apologist Shabir Ally and Christian philosopher Bill Craig share a friendly moment post-debate

To conclude, I disagree with Islam wholeheartedly.  And I try to love Muslims, wholeheartedly. Obviously I fail more often than I care to admit in the practice of love, and I know all too well the disturbing ease in which I objectify others. I'm thankful I've been given a perspective of Muslims in which I find them easier to love than others, but I'm all too aware that my patience runs childishly thin when faced with worldviews I have difficulty grasping. May God help us all to suspend our fear and hatred of those whose beliefs run counter to our own, and to employ a patience and love which can only be explained by the presence of the Divine within our hearts.