That’s what the two new billboards near my home ask. They’re part of a new campaign that’s been launched in several different cities (here’s a San Jose Mercury News story).They also make the claim that Islam is what Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed all taught. I checked out the website, but it doesn’t give any information about that claim. I’m going to give them a call and ask them what they mean… I’ll give you an update when I do.
Until then, you can check out their website here. They spend a great deal of time trying to put a better spin on some of the more threatening (to non-Muslim) passages of the Qu’ran, and are at pains to defend all things Islamic. One curious tidbit is that in trying to prove that Muslims are not anti-Semitic, the author tries to argue from greater to lesser by pointing to the Islamic permission for Muslim men to marry Christian women. If a Muslim man can marry a Christian woman, doesn’t that mean that a Muslim could befriend a Christian?
Leaving aside for the moment that this has nothing really to do with Muslim anti-Semitism, you’ll note that it says nothing about an Islamic permission for a Muslim woman to marry a Christian man. That’s because there is no such permission.
I’m certainly not one to even suggest that all Muslims are terrorists… or anything close to it. Some of the Muslims I’ve met I’ve liked, some I haven’t. No news there. But this I do know: Jesus and Mohammed did not teach the same thing. Mohammed taught and lived by military conquest, taught that Islam should rule the world– eventually by whatever means necessary– and created a religion based on law and fear.
Mohammed taught: fear Allah and do what you’re told and he might save you in the end. This was the message of the Imam when I visited a mosque several years ago. “Fear Allah,” he repeated again and again. He even made a special point of addressing us visitors to tell us that if we didn’t learn to fear Allah we’d burn in hell. Mohammed commands submission.
On the other hand Jesus’ message is that he came, and was sent by the Father in the power of the Spirit, to take the weight and power of the world’s violence, darkness and rejection of God (sin) on himself to set people free from judgment and fear. Jesus taught: “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus calls for us to trust him.
That’s not the same message.
For some reason, I had been of the impression that the popularity of “The Secret”– that book Oprah puffed a couple of years ago– was on the wane. I was recently proven wrong when I spoke with a bright, articulate young man who had just moved to the U.S. from Peru. He was deeply engaged in the book’s message. Then I did a little more digging and found out that it’s still a bestseller and there are a number of very popular websites and “spiritual teachers” promoting it (and thereby proving its truth?).
