[Dean's World] Ali Eteraz: Beautiful Evangelical Christianity

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Posted by Ali Eteraz:
Beautiful Evangelical Christianity
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1176151940.shtml


   I am jacking this from a listserv I'm on as it relates to the
   discussion about religious supremacism in which I held that believing
   in the truth of your religion to the exclusion of others' religion is
   a form of supremacism:

     "The Islam I know is about mercy, reason, knowledge ,compassion,
     tolerance, respect, moderation and social justice. Anything else is
     deviation by people who claim to be Muslim and not necessarily
     Islam."

     As a believing evangelical Christian, this is how I understand my
     faith as well.

     I try to convey the point to others that true Christ Spirit is one
     of mercy, compassion, tolerance, respect, joy, health and social
     justice. (I have some reservations about the role of reason and
     moderation -- which I think have their places, but sometimes need
     to be de-emphasized in deference to heart wisdom and other
     spiritual leadings and insights.)

     Therefore I don't understand the Christ Spirit as exclusive to the
     Christian faith, but see it as present in all Faiths which
     sincerely honor those values, and particularly including Islam as I
     understand it.

     One paradox I see in all this is that I know many Christians who
     interpret our faith in a strictly exclusivist way However, while I
     see their exclusivism as contradicting my understanding of that
     aspect of Divine Truth which underlies the value of tolerance,
     their worship and meditation clearly increases their compassion and
     wisdom in many other respects -- just as profoundly as does the
     worship and meditation of non-exclusivist believers. They
     understand the intensification of their exclusivist convictions to
     be part of the same spiritual endeavor as the deepening of
     compassion. In worship they may experience very similar subjective
     confirmations for both enhanced compassion and intensified
     doctrinal exclusivism. My heart understanding tells me that I am to
     honor and validate the integrity and sincerity of these believers,
     and the Truths they affirm in the domains of compassion and social
     justice, even though I am also led to reject some of their
     exclusivist and intolerant interpretations of our faith.

     I see the same paradox among Muslims.

   I would love to see Islam become more like this Evangelical
   Christianity.