{"id":2389,"date":"2012-10-11T08:40:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-11T08:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html"},"modified":"2012-10-11T08:40:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-11T08:40:00","slug":"catholic-and-muslim-dialogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html","title":{"rendered":"Catholic and Muslim dialogue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

So Catholic and Muslim leaders <\/span>got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month<\/a>. \u00a0OK. \u00a0No problem there. \u00a0Though I notice, again, that there is certainly an uptick on how much energy is spent reaching out to the Islamic world versus, say, reaching out to other religious traditions. \u00a0Nonetheless, it isn\u2019t as if Islam is some small little insignificant force in the world, and perhaps it\u2019s logical that the Church would spend so much energy reaching out to Muslims.\u00a0<\/span>

<\/span>Fair enough. \u00a0But as I read this article on the USCCB website, I was struck by this section attributed to keynote speaker\u00a0Jesuit Father Tom Michel:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201ceffective and truthful dialogue requires faithfulness to one\u2019s tradition. \u201cMuslims must glory in the prophethood of Muhammad and the Qur\u2019anic<\/a>\u00a0message that he brought,\u201d he said, \u201cjust as Christians must glory in the cross of Jesus Christ and our faith in what God has accomplished in him for all humankind.\u201d But, he continued, this faithfulness need not lead to enmity but rather mutual affection and encouragement since, \u201cwe worship and confess the same God.\u201d\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What does that mean? \u00a0I mean, really. \u00a0What does it mean? \u00a0Sorry, maybe I\u2019m just not smart enough to keep up with a Jesuit, but that sounds like nothing other than the old \u2018there are many paths that lead to God\u2019 talk of the 1980s. \u00a0That\u2019s the stuff you used to hear on Oprah. \u00a0A Christian, a\u00a0<\/span>Muslim,\u00a0<\/span>Buddhist, Hindu, Shinto, Druid,\u00a0<\/span>Satanist\u00a0\u2013 they\u2019re all just different paths to God.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Religion, you see, is a bunch of made up stories and fairy tales told by ancient man trying to make sense of the world. \u00a0<\/span>Institutional\u00a0Religion was the corruption of that sincere attempt to understand the universe. \u00a0But it\u2019s important to realize that God, if He\/She exists, never revealed anything other than inspired insights to people who then hammered out those insights into various forms of myth, legend, and tall tales. \u00a0Therefore, all these different paths have their origins in God in some way or another, therefore they\u2019re all just fine and equal and all that.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
Now, is that what the good Father is thinking when he says this? \u00a0Is he making a statement of fact, that the best way to dialogue is for Muslims to glory in the Prophet Muhammad? \u00a0Is he saying that\u2019s the same as when Christians glory in the cross of Jesus\u00a0<\/span>Christ? \u00a0It looks like it to me. \u00a0Maybe he isn\u2019t. \u00a0I don\u2019t know.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I know this is why I think there is so much confusion, and quite frankly, so little fealty to Catholic teaching among so many Catholics. \u00a0It\u2019s a known problem, and most Catholics admit it\u2019s a problem. \u00a0But when you see something like this, you have to ask what it means. \u00a0This is posted, and\u00a0<\/span>apparently\u00a0endorsed, by the USCCB. \u00a0Are they OK with this? \u00a0Is this the Bishops\u2019 view? \u00a0Have I gotten it all wrong? \u00a0If I have, then what does this mean? \u00a0Are they saying different paths lead equally to God? \u00a0God doesn\u2019t care what \u00a0you\u00a0<\/span>believe\u00a0as long as you are a good person? \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
I know this was an inter-faith conference, and I understand that it\u2019s not a place for a rousing fire and brimstone tent meeting. \u00a0But still, words mean things. \u00a0Is dialogue that\u00a0<\/span>important\u00a0that issues that could lead to salvation are put on the back burner? \u00a0Or am I to assume that salvation no longer depends on such things as what you happen to believe? \u00a0Or maybe a combination, or neither? \u00a0<\/span>Again,\u00a0<\/span>whatever\u00a0the answer, I\u2019m increasingly\u00a0<\/span>sympathetic\u00a0to Catholics who scratch their heads and can\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>figure\u00a0out where the historic Catholic faith fits with the new Catholic faith. \u00a0I know some Catholics will say \u2018whatever the Church says now is the truth through the development of doctrine\u2019, but others will wonder just how far you can go before it\u2019s no longer the development of doctrine, but simply brand new doctrines\u00a0<\/span>replacing\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>old.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month. \u00a0OK. \u00a0No problem there. \u00a0Though I notice, again, that there is certainly an uptick on how much energy is spent reaching out to the Islamic world versus, say, reaching out to other religious traditions. \u00a0Nonetheless, it isn\u2019t as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCatholic and Muslim dialogue<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month.  OK.  No problem there.  Though I notice,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic and Muslim dialogue\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month.  OK.  No problem there.  Though I notice,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Daffey Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-11T08:40:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Griffey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html\",\"name\":\"Catholic and Muslim dialogue\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-11T08:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-11T08:40:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\"},\"description\":\"So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month.  OK.  No problem there.  Though I notice,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Catholic and Muslim dialogue\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/\",\"name\":\"Daffey Thoughts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7\",\"name\":\"Dave Griffey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dave Griffey\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Catholic and Muslim dialogue","description":"So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month.  OK.  No problem there.  Though I notice,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Catholic and Muslim dialogue","og_description":"So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month.  OK.  No problem there.  Though I notice,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html","og_site_name":"Daffey Thoughts","article_published_time":"2012-10-11T08:40:00+00:00","author":"Dave Griffey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dave Griffey","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html","name":"Catholic and Muslim dialogue","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-11T08:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-11T08:40:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7"},"description":"So Catholic and Muslim leaders got together and talked for a couple days earlier in the month.  OK.  No problem there.  Though I notice,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/10\/catholic-and-muslim-dialogue.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Catholic and Muslim dialogue"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/","name":"Daffey Thoughts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/9de3f33a0818ebc53727444b649c82a7","name":"Dave Griffey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/546cf1ab64797c201cc8ad19185f2e57?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Dave Griffey"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/author\/dgriffey"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2805"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}