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Let’s admit it. Christianity, my faith tradition, has a mixed history on war. Though Jesus embodied a radical ethic of loving one’s enemy, and though early Christianity was almost wholly pacifist, Christians have also been crusaders and war-makers.
Let’s admit it. Christianity, my faith tradition, has a mixed history on war. Though Jesus embodied a radical ethic of loving one’s enemy, and though early Christianity was almost wholly pacifist, Christians have also been crusaders and war-makers.
My faith doesn’t just come from verses in a book. It comes from people with the authority of lived experience.
The question itself—which is the worst of the sins?— is a temptation. It assumes a list, and it plays to our love of ranking and categories. But not so fast.
In my tradition, we try to remember to make a crucial distinction between sins and Sin. Those who talk endlessly about sins seem to want to scrutinize the behavior of others. And where there’s scrutiny, moralizing will follow, and close behind will come judgment and the call for laws. The presidential campaign trail is already littered with calls to put someone’s moral code into civil law. And religion is reduced to our nanny.
We’re in for the long debate. Even if laws change soon—as I hope they will—the meaning of marriage should be plumbed at deep levels in both sacred and secular spheres. The penchant for some religionists to assume their superiority, and to require their insights be imposed, will foster reactivity, not moral structure or understanding. Separation of discourse might be a preferable road to social consensus.
What Islam Really Says About Violence, Rights and Other Religions
Gomaa, Fadlallah, Mubarak, Khan, Siddiqi, Ellison, others | On Faith
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