Emergent Village
As a Christian, I find the anti-Muslim rhetoric and prejudice, expressed in general and by Christian leaders in particular, appalling and contrary to the spirit of what Christ teaches. Fear produces irrational thinking. This irrational thinking, combined with prejudice towards specific groups of people, creates shameful and immoral behavior that future generations look back on and say “I can’t believe everyone back then stood by and watched and approved of (slavery, internment, segregation, etc.)” We are witnessing the same shameful and immoral behavior towards Muslims today. We are in a moment when many are justifying systemic prejudice against a large portion of our world. We are in a moment when this harmful rhetoric is spoken by Christian leaders who claim that this is in keeping with the way of Jesus.
You may be afraid because of terrorist attacks. Take a breath and pray. Don’t let an irrational fight or flight response to terrorists allow you to paint all 1.6 billion Muslims, peaceful people who have enriched the life of this world, as a threat. The moment we ever feel justified in our prejudice towards a people group, we have lost and we have departed from the way of Christ, the one who has shown us the way of self-sacrificial love and trust in God. The one who told us to bless our enemies and to forgive. The one who showed us that we must overcome evil with love. I am convinced that those who incite violence and prejudice against Muslims are going against everything he teaches.
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