I admit, I am inclined to applaud individuals who are the best representatives of their faith. Granted, I think that the true faith, which may (or may not) be in most religions is one that recognizes the redemptive, healing, transformative power of Love. My evaluation of other religions comes down to this. I'm not a relativist, nor am I a universalist. A religion can be based, for example, on the redemptive power of money. So, as a matter of temperament, I'm not the sort who proselytizes, but the recent events in Afghanistan have helped me consider the incentives for Muslims to convert to Christianity.
I once baptized on person who grew up in an agnostic family in Turkey. I hesitate to call her a Muslim. She knew nothing about the Koran, and a little less about Christianity. She knew, however, what Muslims think about Christians. First, that we worship three Gods and second, that we are cannibals. I said that the trinity was how we explain God's suffering, and Islam grew, in part, out of a dissatisfaction of having a God that shares in suffering. I also remarked that the trinity affirmed that we knew God in our relationships. As far as cannibalism, I remarked that all of society is based upon the cannibalizing, even metaphorically, of hidden victims. Christianity attempts to reveal the hidden violence we avoid, with the hope that this will create peace.
I baptized Alex in Korea. He had lived in Kazakhastan, and had seen all the Russians leave. He was concerned about the fundamentalism that was growing in Islam, and the hypocrisy he was witnessing. He came, faithfully, to several bible studies. When he was baptized we went to Tony Roma's ordered a big plate of ribs and he took out a fifth of whiskey. He'd finally been liberated to eat pork and drink liquor. I was sure that wasn't what I was teaching him, but he'd picked up a couple other messages, and perhaps the antinomian heresy, along the way.
Of course, he was able to emigrate to Canada as a Christian from Kazakhastan, and I wonder if was made a bit easier by my writing letters to the Canadian embassy for him.
I think that if Christianity affirms its innate (although often ridiculed) non-violent urge, it will have a lot to offer people in countries where violence is normal. I don't want to make the mistake of saying that Christians are more pacifistic than other people. But peace is an intrinsic part of the teaching, in spite of the tribal impulses that lie at the heart of any cultural enterprise. Alas, as long as we have invaded with weapons, our sin reveals us to be the hypocrites that our Lord has forgiven us for being.
Wow, those shorthand descriptions of Christianity's "cannibalism" and "polytheism" are compelling. The post-baptism dinner is very funny. Tony Roma's -- in Korea? Okay.
Posted by: toobeaut | Apr 05, 2006 at 04:55 PM