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As we in the United States try to move away from enemy stereotyping in religion toward pluralism and tolerance, we all need to become more visually aware of what the media is selling us on an unconscious level.
I believe that Jesus of Nazareth, crucified, dead and buried, rose again in the disciples and in the faithful throughout the ages who have refused to let violence be the last word on human life. I believe in this because I have seen it.
One of my yoga instructors often ends practice with the instruction to “feel the presence of your being.” I have done yoga for years and honestly could not have survived the stresses of being a seminary president without it.
Innocent lives lost, families shattered, a community forever marked by senseless violence—the pain felt and the pain yet to be lived because of the Virginia Tech shootings can cause anyone to ask “Where is God in all this?”
If we care to really look, what we can discern in the posturing of terrorists who claim to be Muslim is a political movement wrapped in the language of religion. I have Mahmood Mamdani to thank for this insight in his book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, and the Roots of Terror. In order for all of to keep our balance in the earthquake of rhetoric about Islam current today, it is important, when invited to play the game of “good Muslim, bad Muslim,” to learn how not to play.
The relationship of repentance and forgiveness is a very controversial subject in theology and ethics. In the mid 1990’s, I and 22 other religious leaders, scholars, and activists labored for four years to come up with practical steps to reduce violence and increase peace. We published the outcome of this work in 1998 in the book JustPeacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War. We were all Christians, representing more than a dozen different Protestant and Catholic communions. We worked by consensus and when we got to the topic of “repentance and forgiveness” our group almost fell apart. Why?
What Islam Really Says About Violence, Rights and Other Religions
Gomaa, Fadlallah, Mubarak, Khan, Siddiqi, Ellison, others | On Faith
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