All Comments (8)

Good site! I'll stay reading! Keep improving!

Good site! I'll stay reading! Keep improving!

Mrs. thistlewave,

Give me a break - you hate for the Catholic Church is evident in all of your entries.

Dont you remember Pope John Paul's apology to the prior sins of the Church?

If anyone has a log in their eye, it's you and it is a log called bias/hate.

REV. THISTLEWAITE HOW YOU HAVE CUT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER.
ASIM, WHAT A LOVELY RESPONSE IAM PROUD YOU ARE MY BROTHER IN ISLAM
PEACE

Rev.Thistlethwaite,
I commend you on this inspiring article. Coming from a Christian-an enlihgtend one I must say-this is truly refreshing of an outlook as it's uplifting especially in contrast to the many responses On Faith which unfortunately were negative polemics and misquotations from The Quran, The Prophet's life and Islamic history-clearly by people who have never read an authentic translation of The Quran nor have any knowledge of Arabic or Islamic history. Unfortunately, such comments and responses were hardly intellectual or scholarly and often were racist, full of hatred and politically motivated.

As a Muslim, your article gave me a positive feeling and a feeling of ease and humility I get when I read the chapter on Mary the Virgin in the Quran and the miraculous birth of Jesus-both figures are highly revered by Islam and Mary is so honored in the Quran where she is the only woman to be specifically addressed by name in the Quran and were a chapter is wholly dedicated to her. The belief in Jesus and Mary are articles of faith for Muslims.

There is so much that Islam and Christianity can share: their Abrahamic origins and the belief in the one and only God, the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus and the value system enshrined in the Ten Commandments.

People in the West need to realize that the overwhelming majority of Muslims submit to the Quranic definition that "We have created you a community of moderation." A Muslim has to be a moderate by Quranic definition-the Islamic Ummah-community-should deal peacefully with those outside this definition. The West needs to understand that "violence" has no religion and no color and violence is essentially Political and comes as a response to Political accumulated grievances from within and from without:
From within, it’s essentially the absence of democracy in the Muslim world and therefore repression by totalitarian regimes and no freedom of expression; from without it’s military occupation and oppression as the case is in Palestine and Iraq and the denial of Wilsonian self-determination in Chechnya and Kashmir.

Some Christians and Muslims abuse their faith and use it to justify their aggression and violence, here are two examples: the genocide of 250,000 Bosnian Muslims and the destruction of their cultural heritage by orthodox Christian Serbs in the heart of Europe and the attack by some “19 Muslims" on the twin towers on 9/11. Both acts-thou not on the same scale-can never ever by condoned nor justified by the Quran or by the Bible.

But it's such fair, reasonable and rational dialogue as in Rev. Thistlethwaite’s article,
That is so badly needed now to focus on commonalities between faiths-by emphasizing that which unites and not that which divides, that which accepts and consolidates moderation, plurality, diversity and humility. Neo-Cons and the Christian right can hardly be described as moderates-not much different from Muslim radicals.

Thou not a spokesman for the world Muslims am absolutely confident that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are agreeable to the contents of the above article. Each side should look in his own mirror first-the speck-and put his own house in order; then each side should look in his partner’s mirror to see how the other sides sees him and finally compare the two images and deal rationally and sincerely with the differential with the objective of peaceful coexistence.
The Quran enjoins Muslims to "Address them and dialogue with them in the best and most courteous manner," meaning when addressing non-Muslims, usually Christians and Jews who are normally identified and addressed by the Quran as “The People of the "Book,” i.e. holy scriptures-the Bible.

I see absolutely no alternative to peaceful coexistence between all faiths especially Christians and Muslims, unless one side migrates to Mars.

How can "progressive elements in both Islam and Christianity also help each other, by making bridges to understanding and long-term peace and stability" when the two religions are squarely at odds with each other?

Christianity claims that if you do not accept Jesus as your personal savior, you will burn for eternity in hell.

Islam claims that belief in Jesus as the son of God is blasphemous and if you so believe, you will burn in hell for eternity.

So tell me, how can you build a bridge of understanding between two people who must each believe the other will burn in hell for eternity?

"turn the critical lens on our own religious tradition and not use other religions as the negative example."

I will substitute religious tradition for belief system.

Let's hope we all see the deeper meaning of what she is saying and not immediately do just what she is saying not to do.

I must meditate on this and turn that critical eye on myself.

Are you sure Jesus wasn't saying that both you and your neighbor are wrong? The spec in your neighbor's eye says your neighbor is less wrong than you, what with the log in your eye.

Two wrongs don't make a right but are good reasons to fight. Both you and your neighbor can work on each other's eyes. Since it's you with the log, your neighbor will need a lumberjack to help get it out.

There are over 1,500 different interpretations of different passages of the Bible. Are they all right, is only one right or could it be that none are right? Jesus said that none are correct. God's mind is just to complicated for mortal men to read. How many different interpretations are there for different passages of the Quran? Both books are adjustable to fit the needs of the adjuster.

Can't Almighty God do better than that? Maybe those books, Bible and Quran are actually the word of the Devil and not God at all. When ministers speak to God and God speaks back, Pat Robertson for example, how do they know it's God speaking and not the Devil?

Of the 1,500 different interpretations of the Bible's words here's one that's the little spec in the eye, http://www.hoax-buster.org/sellyoursoul We need to be sure it's God and not the Devil BEFORE we start removing things from our neighbor's eyes.