03-31-2007, 06:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-31-2007, 06:59 PM by abdulwalee.)
Quote:You don't need to be a Christian to please me. I treat everyone equally.
<b>Allah says "They are not equal the blind and the one who sees, The learned and the ignorant"... I dont see how you can treat everyone equal?</b>
<b>I still would like to know the real intent behind the "Call for Coexistence" UMMM- I found an interesting Article I thought would spark responds... Lets see if the Christians like it as much...</b>
<b>Coexistence within a non-Muslim Framework</b>
No matter how oblivious one can be of aberrant practices of the past, and strong as may one's control of religious sentiment be, in line with the requirements of objective research, one still cannot deny the fact that throughout the history of Islamic-Christian relations, tolerance has never been a distinctive trait of the Christian side, under any form, as their treatment of Muslims did not rise to the level of coexistence. Neither objective scientific research, nor faithfulness to historical truth dictate that we should transcend this historical fact, which is recorded in the most authoritative reference books. The plea of abstract research, rejection of fanaticism and oblivion of past deviations does not hold here.
Seeking to draw lessons from history in order to chart the way ahead with a clear vision, we would like to register here, with infinite tolerance and a strong desire for coexistence, that the followers of other religions, in general, never rose to the level of tolerance urged for by all religions. Human civilization was greatly affected by the acts of persecution perpetrated by followers of other religions against the Muslim communities at various epochs and places, whether in Andalusia, in Palestine, in the Muslim countries that labored under the yoke of the European military occupation, or in the states in which Muslim minorities have lived in the recent and present epochs.
As for the religious tolerance witnessed in Europe concurrently with the emergence of the movement of religious reform, it was restricted to the Christian apostolate, never blossoming into a form of coexistence with non-Christians. In England, for instance, the call for tolerance was advocated by three prominent scholars : Harrington, Milton and Taylor. The first thinker was of the view that political freedom could not take form in default of absolute religious freedom, because religious freedom encompassed freedom of conscience, which included, in turn, civil freedom. Freedom of conscience is realized only when an individual is able to perform his religious observances and exercise the teachings of his religion according to the inclinations of his own conscience, without any external hindrance, may it be state interference. Milton's defense of tolerance was built on the grounds that the exercise of a right does not necessitate persecution, and that persecution precludes the unveiling of truth.(34)
It is a notorious fact that even amongst the Christians themselves, tolerance was not the lot of all people in Europe at first. Milton himself discarded Catholics from his scope of tolerance as he considered their cult to have pagan overtones; he upheld that the Old Testament had banned the worship of idols.(35) Even today, Europe continues to suffer from the fall-outs of a long-standing, narrow-minded religious tolerance that excludes certain Christian groups themselves, let alone the non-Christians.
Yet, we cannot deny the fact that the Catholic Church has reviewed, and eventually redressed its traditional stance vis-à-vis Islam. A new development has indeed taken place, divorcing with the past habits since the days of Urubain II in 1095. The document of Nostra Aetati, issued by the second ecumenical assembly in the epoch of Pope Paul VI, in 1965, describing the position of the Church vis-à-vis non-Christians, states about Muslims : "The Church holds in high esteem the Muslims who worship the One and Only God, the Merciful, the Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, who has addressed his message to the humankind. The Muslims show full obedience to God's ordinances, even His implicit injunctions, as did Abraham from whose faith the Muslims derived theirs. The Muslims pay as well due respect and veneration to Jesus as a prophet, although they do not recognize him as a god. They hold in high esteem his mother Virgin Mary, whom they treat with humbleness and veneration. They are, above all, awaiting the Judgment Day when the Almighty will resurrect humankind for the Reckoning. The Muslims attach importance to ethics, and worship God alone, particularly through regular prayer, Zakat and Fasting."(36)
Yet, in a new papal document, we find material that impels us to balk at the idea of "inter-religious dialogue" or "inter-religious coexistence," not to renege on the application of the principle of dialogue and coexistence, but to ponder deeply the significance of this position and its repercussions on the moves undertaken by the Western Catholic Church in its call for dialogue and coexistence. The following example is relevant to our discussion of the perception of coexistence by non-Muslims, specifically the Christians, or more exactly the Christians with allegiance to the Western Church, not the Arab Christians who have been living in coexistence with us for centuries long, within the Islamic civilization. Under the sub-title of "Dialogue with our brothers from other religions," in Chapter V of the Letter of the Redeemer(37), about which Pope Paul II said that it enshrined his opinion and position vis-à-vis Islam and Muslims, we read the following : "Dialogue among religions constitutes part and parcel of the mission of the evangelist church. As both a way and a means of mutual acquaintance and enrichment, it is not inconsistent with our mission towards the nations. On the contrary, it is closely linked to this mission, in a special manner, and is an expression thereof." The document then points out : "Redemption comes from the Christ, and dialogue does not absolve us from evangelization." Rather, "the Church does not consider that there is any contradiction whatsoever between evangelization and inter-religious dialogue."(38)
There is no need to expound this text since it includes a clear-cut definition of the meaning of dialogue as construed by Pope John Paul II in the sense that it is no more than a propitious forum for continuation and reinforcement of the evangelization process. However, there is another text included in the moral apostolic sermon titled "conveying the religious education" by Pope John Paul II also, broadcast in 1979, in which he said : "The mission of evangelization is embedded in the evangelical culture and must not be dissociated from it. It is conveyed through an apostolic dialogue that must be necessarily contained in cultural dialogue. The power of the gospel is able to spark change and renovation, whereas the gospel must not be altered or affected in its contact with cultures. In this way, religious teaching will penetrate deeply the various cultures, thus conferring the perfection of the Christ on their legal values."(39)
If such is inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue in the view of the Vatican, their true perception of coexistence is then aimed to realize the evangelization of the whole world, a position sharply contrasting with the tolerant humanitarian acceptation of coexistence upheld by the Muslims. This inherent aim is brought to light with even more clarity in another passage of the said apostolic discourse, which clearly underlines the "importance of evangelizing the world, in particular in post-communism countries for fear that they should go on with their atheism or embrace Islam. Hence the necessity of dealing a blow to Islam for it represents the only alternative for those who renounce Christianity upon discovering the distortions that had affected it but do not want to apostatize."(40)
Inter-religious coexistence certainly loses its utility and value when manipulated to serve interests other than the humanitarian objectives agreed upon by the parties seeking coexistence. At the time when voices are rising to demand inter-religious coexistence, anti-Islamic schemes are hatched at the highest levels to combat Islam specifically, while Jews relish the benefits of the noblest form of tolerance.
In the United States of America, the State of Colorado recently hosted the largest evangelical conference ever. Its deliberations, proposals and conclusions have been translated into Arabic and published in a large-size book of as many as 900 small print pages. The conference focused on a single issue : What are the best ways to evangelize Muslims and eradicate their religion. One million dollars were raised to this effect, as a first step toward the implementation of this scheme.(41) Upon reading the hefty book containing the conference's proceedings, one finds a number of provocative facts corroborating the idea that Christians, or to be more objective a chunk of them, neither believe in coexistence, nor in dialogue or cooperation. When they call for coexistence or dialogue, they mean to wield them in order to impose a religious dominance not very different from political or economic hegemony.
At any rate, the Muslims have no objection to responding to the call for coexistence with followers of other religions even if their perception of coexistence is totally or partially inconsistent with the civilized humanitarian concept upheld by the Muslims. The Muslims are convinced that the nature of human life requires a higher level of coexistence marked by objectivity, generosity, truth and sincerity in working for the well-being of all humans.