Rage Over Islam in Windsor

By Ian Clarey @ http://ruminationsbythelake.blogspot.com/ Sometimes I find it difficult reconciling my thoughts about Islam and Christian response. A church that I used to attend and work as a pastoral assistant for in Windsor is currently in the throes of controversy about a series of lectures they are giving on Islam. The lectures are part of a series called "The Deadly Threat of Islam." The Windsor Star ran an article covering the outcry against Campbell Baptist Church, whose guest lecturer, Zachariah Anani, a former Muslim, spoke of Islam as a violent religion. I wholeheartedly agree that Islam is violent. There is no debating that their history is that of violence, and that its leaders and holy book advocate violence - to be expressed by and in all quarters of the Islamic faith. All one has to do is read through any newspaper, Western or Middle-Eastern, to see that violence is a hallmark of Muslim belief. It is not hard to conjure up images of the Muhammad cartoon controversy, the attack on the Twin Towers, etc. What I find hard to reconcile in my mind is the way we address Muslims in our culture. On the one hand, there are many in the West who are openly violent towards the countries they now live in (like Canada). For instance, the 17 terrorists who were caught in Toronto last year. But there are also a lot of Muslims who are not violent, inconsistent with their religion as they may be. Will hosting a conference, like the one at Campbell, that is distinctly aimed at ruffling feathers, accomplish anything for the gospel of Jesus Christ? I just don't see it. I believe that we can discuss the significant problems with Islam without raised voices and name-calling. I think back to the words of a band called Operation Ivy that went something like this: "Yelling in my ear, you try to control me, yelling in my ear, you look but you don't see, yelling in my ear, yelling in my ear, yelling in my ear." When people are screaming at each other, nobody hears anything. Be it Islam, or any other issue where there are two opposing sides, both parties need to take the time to be respectful, balanced and fair. It is sad to see that things haven't changed at Campbell. I left there for a number of reasons, some of which were intolerance from the upper levels of the church in regards to my presuppositionalism and amillennialism, among other things. I can only imagine what it would be like to be a Muslim in that place. I hope that this will prove to be a lesson for the elders there, and that they will learn how to respond to anything that they disagree with with understanding and compassion, coupled with the obvious love and committment to truth that they hold in their hearts. If that balance were in place, it would be a great church to attend. Here's more coverage of the ill-spirited event. And my friend Mark's thoughts.