{image1}<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the aftermath of violence and the flood of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has followed, there have been many wonderful statements of solidarity with
\n\treligious freedom. Liberals and conservatives, religious and secular—there is an amazing consensus rejecting religious bigotry and hatred. It is not only
\n\tthe atrocity in San Bernardino that is beyond words. It is time to go beyond statements. Talk is cheap.<\/p>\n
\n\tIf we want to deal with intolerance, bigotry, and hatred in a constructive manner, we each have to learn to work to build bridges of friendship and
\n\tunderstanding. It\u2019s not a sure bet even then, but it is the least we can do. But it must be a friendship beyond superficial social tolerance. After all,
\n\tbefore World War II Germans were very friendly with their Jewish neighbors, shopkeepers, business partners, lawyers, teachers, etc. But we are even more
\n\tvulnerable: too many Americans have no friendships or regular association with Muslims. We fear whatever—or whoever—we don\u2019t know or understand.<\/p>\n
\n\tSo here\u2019s my challenge: churches should seek to build a partnership, a friendship, with a mosque in their community. Hold joint programs. Get to know one
\n\tanother. Plan some community service programs together. Plan some social activities together. Learn about their beliefs and culture, and let them learn
\n\tabout ours. Let\u2019s stop talking about people we don\u2019t know, and get to know each other.<\/p>\n
\n\tPastors should be sure to join, or initiate, interfaith clergy associations in which the Muslim imams are included. This is not to water down what we each
\n\tbelieve. It is to emphasize our common humanity, and work to break down fear and prejudice.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe city of San Bernardino has come together in unity following the attack. We can all take a page from their gracious response, and show grace to one
\n\tanother instead of demagoguery. Stop paying attention to the loud mouth, and don\u2019t let this moment become our 1938.<\/p>\n
\n\tA close friend and colleague, Fabian Carballo, president of the North American Religious Liberty Association—West, which I serve as executive director,
\n\tpenned the following suggestions:<\/p>\n
\n\tAsk your pastor to call clerics from a local mosque and invite them to a Christmas program and recognize them with a small gift.<\/p>\n
\n\tInvolve the children at your church in a letter writing campaign showing support for our Muslim neighbors.<\/p>\n
\n\tShare a meal with a Muslim acquaintance or friend and talk about what we have in common.<\/p>\n
\n\tSend a message from the church that affirms the Muslim community\u2019s presence in your neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\n\tHost a health fair and invite your Muslim neighbors and talk about diet and what we have in common (this is especially relevant for my Seventh-day
\n\tAdventist community, which has a number of dietary standards that will be familiar to our Muslim friends).<\/p>\n
\n\tInvite a cleric to speak to the congregation in the afternoon after worship services and teach the main tenets of their religion, allowing for questions to
\n\tbe asked.<\/p>\n
\n\tCarballo continues: Surely, many Americans may oppose this strategy. But what is the alternative? More distrust, more marginalization, an escalation of
\n\tviolence and discrimination? Our ministry is about freedom of conscience, the very heart of the gospel. Isn\u2019t it time we become radically engaged in the
\n\tbattle for freedom and use grace and kindness as our biggest weapons? Please respond with your plan of action, and with any additional ideas you may have
\n\tor any suggestions as to how our ministry may be enlarged. To do nothing is to let the enemy win.<\/p>\n
\n\tMy heart has been warmed by stories emerging of kindness and compassion. My friends at Loma Linda University Medical Center highlighted the amazing triage
\n\toperation mounted there to care for victims of the shooting in San Bernardino; and such acts of kindness as the nurse in Texas donating pizza for the
\n\temergency room staff. The media tell us about the dark side; but in every tragedy there are untold acts of kindness and compassion we never hear about.
\n\tHumanity rises to the occasion, and God is present in the love and care of those around us. Yes, even when the darkness of the human soul becomes evident,
\n\tas it did in San Bernardino, God is still good, and His love is still manifest through His children.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{image1} In the aftermath of violence and the flood of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has followed, there have been many wonderful statements of solidarity with religious freedom. Liberals and conservatives, religious and secular—there is an amazing consensus rejecting religious bigotry and hatred. It is not only the atrocity in San Bernardino that is beyond words. It<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[311],"tags":[143],"class_list":["post-6344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-march-april-2016","tag-march-april-2016"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.charming-bohr.160-238-31-172.plesk.page\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}