Yes, we do have to tackle the tough questions in interfaith dialogue. I believe that is what Pope Benedict XVI intended in his speech on faith and reason at Regensburg. But I think we would all be wise, as I think the Pope was not, and turn the critical lens on our own religious tradition and not use other religions as the negative example.
Take Jesus advice here. “How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” (Luke 6:42)
How differently would the Pope’s remarks on faith and reason have been perceived if he had given an example of faith behaving irrationally from the Christian tradition, and in the same remarks have given an example of faith behaving rationally from the Muslim tradition? The central point about God and reason could still have been made with great theological acuity, as the Pope ultimately did.
I am a Christian and I can tell you frankly that to our great chagrin and sorrow, there are many good examples from Christian history of our faith behaving with great violence in seeking to spread the faith. I submit colonial Christianity as a centuries long and world-wide example of this. And as an academic and scholar, I know there are many wonderful examples of Islamic traditions of rational discourse on God and God’s nature.
We should carry Jesus’ advice as well into our reflections on the second part of the question posed to our religious leaders’ group. The best way Christians can help “Muslims take on their more violent and extreme elements” is to address ourselves to the “violent and extreme elements” within Christianity. As such an example, let me cite Hal Lindsey’s book, The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Islam . This is nothing less than a diatribe by a Christian against Islam.
If Christians wish to be helpful to Muslims who are working within their tradition for greater peace and justice, they could do no better than to take on the Lindsays of the world who are promoting a distorted and hateful Christian attitude toward Islam. As a Christian, I see uninformed Christian diatribes against Islam as providing fodder for reactionary elements within both religions.
Those who wish for war and not peace among religions are exact mirrors of each other, actually helping each other bring about what they each claim to fear, a state of permanent war. The good news is that progressive elements in both Islam and Christianity also help each other, by making bridges to understanding and long-term peace and stability.
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