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Top Evangelicals Critical of Colleagues Over Islam
New York Times ^ | 5/08/03 | LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Posted on 05/07/2003 11:52:06 PM PDT by kattracks


WASHINGTON, May 7 — Evangelical leaders meeting here today denounced as "dangerous" and "unhelpful" the anti-Islam remarks made in the last year by leaders in their own movement and proposed new guidelines for churches to follow in relating to Muslims.

At the same time, the religious leaders reaffirmed their commitment to proselytizing, and they accused mainline Protestants and groups like the World Council of Churches of holding "naïve" dialogue sessions with Muslims that minimized theological and political differences.

The meeting came at a time when Christian leaders are deeply divided over whether their goal should be to coexist with Muslims or to convert them. It was convened by the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 43,000 congregations, and the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative Christian group in Washington that often critiques mainline Protestantism.

Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, said to the 40 leaders attending today, "Since we are in a global community, no doubt about it, we must temper our speech and we must communicate primarily through actions."

It has been more than a year since major evangelical leaders, like the Rev. Franklin Graham, the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Jerry Vines, past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, began publicly branding Islam, or Islam's prophet Muhammad, as inherently evil and violent.

Mr. Graham, son of the evangelist Billy Graham and head of a global missions agency, Samaritan's Purse, said last year that Islam was "a very evil and wicked religion." Mr. Vines described Muhammad as "a demon-possessed pedophile."

The evangelical leaders here today issued what one of them called a "loving rebuke" to their colleagues for remarks that they said tarnished American Christians and jeopardized the safety of missionaries and indigenous Christians in predominantly Muslim countries.

Dr. Clive Calver, president of World Relief, the relief and development agency of the National Association of Evangelicals, told the group, "It's very dangerous to build more barriers when we're supposed to be following one who pulled the barriers down," a reference to Jesus.

In an interview, Dr. Calver said that when he was working recently in the Mideast with Muslim members of the Red Crescent relief agency, Mr. Graham's comments were circulating widely.

"It's used to indict all Americans and used to indict all Christians," said Dr. Calver, who is British. "It obviously puts lives and livelihoods of people overseas at risk."

None of the evangelical or Protestant leaders who were criticized attended the meeting today.

Sayyid M. Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America, said in a telephone interview that he welcomed the evangelicals' statements and encouragement of interfaith dialogue — even the emphasis on sharing the gospel with Muslims.

"I don't have any problem with that because interfaith dialogue does not mean diluting the individual traditions of the different faiths," Mr. Syeed said. "All it means is that we respect each other's world view."

Those here said that they did not want to undermine the missionary work of their fellow evangelicals and that they would soon convene a session with those they had criticized.

A spokesman for Mr. Graham said that he was in San Diego for a mission led by his father and could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Falwell, reached by telephone, said that he regretted saying in a "60 Minutes" interview last year that he had concluded after reading books on Islam that "Muhammad was a terrorist."

He said he was unhappy to learn of today's event only through calls from reporters, but supported the evangelical leaders' call to temper the language on Islam.

"In this media-sensitive world, we must be cautious that we walk a tightrope that does not allow offending others while at the same time never compromising what we believe," Mr. Falwell said. "At the same time we cannot expect hundreds of thousands of evangelical church leaders to go silent when somebody asks what they think about any religion, just because those religions might kill their missionaries."

The guidelines for churches proposed today are notable for urging evangelicals, who have not made a priority of interfaith dialogue, to interact more with Muslims. But the guidelines promote a fundamentally different approach to interfaith relations than that used by mainline Protestant groups.

The evangelicals emphasize that Christians should use dialogue sessions with Muslims to "give testimony to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is our duty to do so." The guidelines also urge Christians to use dialogue to spell out the differences between Christianity and Islam, and to call Muslims to account for the lack of religious freedom in Muslim countries.

Alan F. H. Wisdom, vice president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, who drafted the guidelines, said that much of the dialogue that Christians carried on with Muslims across the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, was motivated by "a genuine, perhaps naïve wish to be reassured that they don't all hate us."

Mr. Wisdom said, "There has been the tendency to put reconciliation above witness to the truth here."

Responding to the criticism in a telephone interview, Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, which represents mainline Protestants and Orthodox denominations and frequently engages in dialogue with Muslims, said that he agreed that each faith must not dilute its own distinctions.

But Dr. Edgar said: "We disagree that you can't have dialogue unless you talk about Jesus. My belief is that dialogue is best built on relationships. People have to get to know each other, to trust each other, to like each other, and in some cases to even love each other before real learning and listening takes place."



TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: christianity; franklingraham; interfaith; islam; jerryfalwell; nae; religioiusleft; sbc

1 posted on 05/07/2003 11:52:07 PM PDT by kattracks
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To: kattracks
"Since we are in a global community, no doubt about it, we must temper our speech and we must communicate primarily through actions."

Okay, how about this kind of "action":

2 posted on 05/08/2003 12:00:40 AM PDT by BenLurkin (Socialism is slavery.)
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To: kattracks
I had heard that the So. Baptist church was the only denomination that supported the war in Iraq. I found that to be very interesting. However, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of that statement. Perhaps someone else can.
3 posted on 05/08/2003 12:01:14 AM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (Lurking since 2000.)
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To: kattracks
It is interesting to read the two articles on this convention posted here tonight. One from the NYT and one from the Washington Times (I believe).
4 posted on 05/08/2003 12:26:44 AM PDT by Texas_Jarhead
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To: Pan_Yans Wife
had heard that the So. Baptist church was the only denomination that supported the war in Iraq

The Southern Baptists form a convention, not a denomination. Each Southern Baptist church is autonomous, and therefore there is no overriding denominational authority that issues an opinion on such things. That said, I think you'll find that most individuals in Southern Baptist churches supported the war against Saddam Hussein.

5 posted on 05/08/2003 1:54:59 AM PDT by Guyin4Os
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To: Guyin4Os
You're correct in the distinction between the denomination and the convention. Sloppy writing and the late hour lead to my mistake. Thanks for the correction.
6 posted on 05/08/2003 5:03:51 AM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife (Lurking since 2000.)
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To: kattracks
This "professional courtesy" towards a creed that advocates violence, slavery, and the chattelization of women is incomprehensible.

There are limits to "can't we all just get along?" -- and the dividing line is the use of force. Islam's sacred texts and its religious authorities espouse the use of force to spread Islam all over the world. Islam regards any state not supervised by Muslim religious figures and ruled under shari'a law as illegitimate. How genuinely religious men could fail to condemn such a "religion" escapes me completely.

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com

7 posted on 05/08/2003 5:44:27 AM PDT by fporretto (Curmudgeon Emeritus, Palace of Reason)
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To: kattracks
"It's very dangerous to build more barriers when we're supposed to be following one who pulled the barriers down," a reference to Jesus.

I guess he means the "happy, hymn-singing hippie" Jesus. "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
"But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law-- "

8 posted on 05/08/2003 5:50:33 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If You're Not A Part Of The Solution, There's Good Money To Be Made In Prolonging The Problem.)
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To: BenLurkin
Although I disagree with Franklin Graham's actions, the God of the Koran is very different from the God of the New Testament. That makes the Koran suspect in my eyes.
9 posted on 05/08/2003 5:52:33 AM PDT by AppyPappy (If You're Not A Part Of The Solution, There's Good Money To Be Made In Prolonging The Problem.)
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To: kattracks
Alan F. H. Wisdom, vice president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, who drafted the guidelines, said that much of the dialogue that Christians carried on with Muslims across the United States after Sept. 11, 2001, was motivated by "a genuine, perhaps naïve wish to be reassured that they don't all hate us."

He is correct that some of the dialogue was motivated by that wish. However, the fact is that ALL islamics hate all unbelievers. They are commanded to in their scriptures.

Mr. Wisdom said, "There has been the tendency to put reconciliation above witness to the truth here."

And this is just what they are doing by condemning Graham, Falwell etc when these men of God just spoke the truth. Islam is an evil satanic religion

Responding to the criticism in a telephone interview, Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, which represents mainline Protestants and Orthodox denominations and frequently engages in dialogue with Muslims, said that he agreed that each faith must not dilute its own distinctions.

But Dr. Edgar said: "We disagree that you can't have dialogue unless you talk about Jesus. My belief is that dialogue is best built on relationships. People have to get to know each other, to trust each other, to like each other, and in some cases to even love each other before real learning and listening takes place."

You also can't fulfill the great commission without talking about Jesus. This guy needs to read the bible and find out what's important to God. (Hint, It's called sharing the Gospel). But then what do you expect from the anti-Christian NCC.

10 posted on 05/08/2003 7:50:20 AM PDT by John O (God Save America (Please)
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To: kattracks
"World Council of Churches"

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

Matthew 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

11 posted on 05/08/2003 8:18:37 AM PDT by hope (See the implosion of the left. Their god Marduk has been utterly disgraced!)
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To: kattracks
Pursuing an Evangelical-Muslim dialogue
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/907901/posts
12 posted on 05/08/2003 8:20:25 AM PDT by Valin (Age and deceit beat youth and skill)
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