Earlier this month I posted about A Common Word Between Us and You, a statement published by 138 Muslim leaders “to declare the common ground between Christianity and Islam.” Scholars at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture have responded with Loving God and Neighbor Together. This statement has been endorsed by over 300 Christian leaders from around the world.
Loving God and Neighbor Together
As members of the worldwide Christian community, we were deeply encouraged and challenged by the recent historic open letter signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars, clerics, and intellectuals from around the world. A Common Word Between Us and You identifies some core common ground between Christianity and Islam which lies at the heart of our respective faiths as well as at the heart of the most ancient Abrahamic faith, Judaism. Jesus Christ’s call to love God and neighbor was rooted in the divine revelation to the people of Israel embodied in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18). We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians world-wide. In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors.
Muslims and Christians have not always shaken hands in friendship; their relations have sometimes been tense, even characterized by outright hostility. Since Jesus Christ says, “First take the log out your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye” (Matthew 7:5), we want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the “war on terror”) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors. Before we “shake your hand” in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world. continue reading
11-29-2007 |
2 Comments »Welcome to Justice and Compassion, a conversation about how to create a more just, compassionate and peaceful world. This blog is sponsored by Off The Map and hosted by Benjamin and Rachel and we invite you to add your voice to this conversation.
We live in a world where 2 billion people live on less than $2 day and 1 billion people do not have access to clean water, a world where 30,000 children die every day of starvation and preventable disease and 15 million children have been orphaned by AIDS. As Westerners, we so often live our comfortable lives completely insulated from the great problems of our time.
Activist Jim Wallis says, “Conversion in our time is to liberate the poor and to make the blind see. The poor need justice and the rich need restored sight.” We are ready to have our eyes opened, to truly see and then be converted and transformed by what we see. We hope you will join us on this risky and exciting journey.
Here is what we envision for this blog…
We want to get a better grasp on what the world situation is in terms of poverty, hunger, disease, war and suffering and to understand what that looks like on both the global and individual scale.
We want to dialogue about what it means to do something about these problems – actively, wisely and practically.
We want to talk about the interaction of compassion and justice and the relationships between the “first world” and “third world” nations.
We want to ask ourselves as participants in this conversation to step outside of our own comfort zones, to be open minded and to be willing to change our ideas and our actions.
Most importantly, we want this blog to be a conversation. We want to provide a forum for respectful interactions between people with very different viewpoints. We want to learn from and be inspired by one another.
We also want you to help us map out this journey…
What do you envision for this blog? What would you like it to look like and be about?
What are some subjects and ideas you’d like to explore and learn about together?
Do you have areas of knowledge or passion that you would like to share with us?
Do you know of anyone doing justice and compassion work who we should interview for our blog?
02-26-2007 |
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