On October 21, Canon Andrew White delivered a lecture titled “Pursuing Reconciliation in Iraq: The Art of Mediation Between Warring Religious Factions.” Co-sponsored by the Human Rights Program and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Kennedy School, the lecture focused on the role that religion must play in the peacemaking process in the Middle East.
White is president of the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East, and the Anglican Chaplain to Iraq and Rector of St. George’s Church in Baghdad. The recipient of the Train Foundation’s Civil Courage Prize, White has been involved in the release of more than 50 hostages in the Middle East.
“Although I’m supposedly a religious leader myself, I actually think religion is bad,” he said. “So much of what we’ve seen is religion going wrong, and causing hatred and damage and pain.”
His recent book, [i]Vicar of Baghdad[/i], is frankly a must read for those who wish to know what happens behind and apart from the headlines. AW is surely a rather special saint …
It is good to hear common sense spoken by an Anglican leader.
There is deafening silence by Christians about anti-Christian discrimination and violence here and abroad. Did any Christian leaders object to the woman who simply wanted a Christian roommate? We then have this essay: [url=http://www.solomonia.com/blog/archive/2010/11/why-do-christians-remain-silent-about-th/ ]Why Do Christians Remain Silent About the Persecution of Christians in Muslim-Majority Societies?[/url]
To response #3, here is an Essay that I’d like to see written: “Why to American Christians see Muslims more as enemies of the state that deserve attacks than as God’s children that deserve to hear and see first hand God’s love for them from a Christian perspective? –subtitle: why do we stay in our confort zone and not get off our butts and move to a foreign country and live among Muslims?”
stevejax, I believe that you are mistaken when you say “American Christians see Muslims more as enemies of the state that deserve attacks”. While it is true that some church leaders denigrate those who evangelize, it seems to me that many American Christians admire those Christians who are brave enough to go to Muslim countries and, as you say, teach Muslims that they “deserve to hear and see first hand God’s love for them from a Christian perspective”. I hope more Christians will support the brave Christians, at home and abroad, who bring the light of Christianity to those who have not yet found their way through Christ.
bettcee, thanks for your note. I do actually belive in a strange dichotomy. One that the State has a right to defend itself against it’s enemies. In this case, America against specific Muslim countries. Unfortunately, I have seen, far too often, American Christians who put patriatism way ahead of their christian responsiblity. I guess I speak out of frustration as someone who has spend 1.5 years in a 99.9% muslim nation.