Guest Post - Loving Your Neighbor

Loving Your Neighborby Pastor John Lund

 

Kudos to the Darby library for going forward with the March 9 talk on Islam by UM scholar Samir Bitar. The rampant rhetoric of fear regarding Muslims immigrants is out of line with our core American value of granting life and liberty to all people. What has made us great is our willingness to give everyone a chance regardless of race, ethnicity, social class, or beliefs. Certainly, we need to denounce and fight ISIS, and we need protection from their attacks. It is reasonable to be concerned about screening immigrants from a war-torn nation. But to judge all Muslims because of ISIS is unfair. The claim that Islam is at war with Christianity or with the US and that all Muslims are out to get us is plain wrong.

For those of us who are Christian, we would do well to look first at the log in our own eye. We have to acknowledge that many Christians justified the killing of native peoples by calling them "heathens" and "savages." Later, Christians sent Native children to boarding schools so they could be "Christianized" and re-cultured. Christians also justified slavery, and many later fought against civil rights for Blacks and all people of color. European Christians perpetuated stereotypes and discrimination against Jews, which allowed the rise of Nazi hatred and the Holocaust. Many Christians fought against the right of women to vote, and some still believe that women should be subject to men and silent outside their homes. Even today, Christians fight the hardest against civil rights for people in the LGBTQ community. If the atrocities of some Christians were used to judge all of us, we'd be lucky to have any neighbors at all.

The truth is that there are an estimated 3.3 million Muslims in this country, and many have been here for decades. Most work hard as teachers, business owners, laborers, doctors, and in other professions, and are integrated into American culture and life. They wage peace through daily prayer, compassion, care for their neighbor, and devotion to the same God that Christians and Jews worship. They honor Moses and Jesus as Major Prophets and have great respect for the Bible. I have known many Muslims in my lifetime and feel fortunate to have some as friends. They are among the most genuine, gracious, giving and humorous people I know. In all of our major cities, Imams and Muslim leaders work with Christian, Jewish and other faith leaders to foster relationships, peace and unity among the world religions. Time after time, when Christians actually meet Muslims and get to know them and share a meal and conversation, relationships are formed, attitudes and perceptions are changed, and the whole community is enriched for the better. Thank God we have different languages, music, food, skin colors, traditions and beliefs! Because of that we learn and grow and become fuller human beings when we are together.

Yes, there are horrible things being done by some Muslims who manipulate Islam and the Quran to justify their own ideology of terror and control. Yes, some Muslims believe that women should obey their husbands and have fewer rights than men. Yes, some Muslims are fundamentalist and practice horrific forms of violent retribution. And this is true for some Christians as well. We see evidence of this today in KKK rallies, mass shootings and vandalism of Black churches and abortion clinics, and the high rate of domestic violence against women. The greater truth is that the huge majority of the estimated 1.7 billion Muslims and 2.4 billion Christians in the world are people who love God and neighbor, care for those in need, and seek peace in our world.

As Christians, we are called not only to love the neighbors who are similar to us, but to also love those who are different and even our enemies. Our world is already filled with fear, lies, hatred, and violence. We can do much better by waging peace, forming relationships, listening to each other, sharing life, and expecting the best from each other. That is exactly what a Galilean Jew did 2000 years ago amid times of great fear, much like today. Perhaps we can follow his lead.

      -Pastor John Lund is Campus Pastor at the University of Montana

Emmaus Campus Ministry at the University of Montana

Sunday School for ALL AGES kicks off this weekend; guest speakers in adult forum!

This Sunday CtK launches Sunday School classes for kids age 3-103. (Children under age 3 will sing songs and play in the nursery). Sunday School Registration forms are available now on the CtK website: www.ctkbozeman.org - every child age 3-12th grade needs a form.

This Sunday in the Adult Forum, meeting in the social hall, we welcome Amir, from Iran, and Mahmud, from Jordan. They will tell about their experiences in the USA, as Muslims, and discuss the current media that often portray Islam as a danger to Americans. They may also have some thoughts on how Americans treat visitors (including tourists, refugees and immigrants). This will be an opportunity to broaden your understanding of spirituality and how God is at work through all our hands in this world!

Check out this video:

Battling fear and loathing

I once served a rural two-point parish in central Illinois.

A rural two-point parish is two churches who cannot afford a single pastor on their own, so they share one pastor between them.

In 2004, one of those churches decided to leave our national church body, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It broke my heart. I served the people of St. Peter's Lutheran in Melvin, IL with great love for them as a community of faith, broken by their sin and healed by the forgiving love of God in Christ Jesus.

One of the reasons cited for departing the ELCA was the alledged "sponsoring of terrorism by allowing Muslims to speak at the Chicago seminary of our church." This departure was done out of ignorance, fear, and stupidity.

The seminary in question, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, was seeking to bring some understanding about Islam to the people of Chicago after the attacks on 9-11. For this brave act of compassion, directed towards a great world faith for the benefit of Christians in Chicago, they were rejected by a faith community (the one I used to serve) by fear and loathing.

I called the president of LSTC and asked if they were sponsors of terrorism. I was told "they were not."

I am writing this post because I still find elements of fear and loathing about Muslims even in the enlightened community of Bozeman, MT.

I invite you to attend a lecture to be given May 8th at Hope Lutheran here in Bozeman, starting at 9 a.m. It is entitled "A Window on the World of Islam." The event is sponsored by Northern Rockies Institute of Theology and the lecture will be given by Rev. Steve Benson.

Rev. Benson has taught Islamic history and theology in India. He has also published scholarly articles about Islam and inter-faith relations in three international academic journals. He earned an M.A. in Islamic studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary.

Cost for the event is $10.

For further information, contact Northern Rockies Institute of Theology at 406.452.1663 .

Their website is http://www.nrit.org/.

Let's battle fear and loathing by learning more about this faith and culture, and let's battle ignorance and half-truths by staying informed and enlightened.