[Magdalen] Prayers for tomorrow, update

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

It is written that the truth shall set you free.

The part they don't mention is that it has to be the whole truth, and also
the hearer needs to be prepared to listen and hear.

My wife grew up in Saudi Arabia, so she has a different take on this,
knowing Muslims for years in many capacities, and she gets a bit hot under
the collar at the inexcusable ignorance that passes for information on
Islam.  One thing, of course, is the inability of a person not in Islam to
present a fair and balanced view of that faith.

Another thing I have noticed is that Islam could well be its own worst
enemy (yeah, even worse than these for hire liars).  When I was in Desert
Storm, we had Muslim experts come in to talk to the troops -- perhaps part
of the arrangements with the Saudis -- and in each instance, they lost all
rapport with the audience by showing zero comprehension of what
Christianity was about ("why do you Christians believe in three Gods?"
seemed to be their best shot at ecumenism. Virtually everyone said that at
some point in their presentation).
Years later, we had a local Islam expert, perhaps an imam, come to talk to
our church, and he gave virtually the same presentation I heard a number of
times in Saudi. I am not saying this to be judgmental; I am simply stating
what happened in each instance when an attempt was made to get someone from
Islam to talk to us.  The impression I was always left with was that they
didn't think it mattered whether or not they told facts so long as they
gave a presentation. Sort of reminds me of Christians in our early years.

Again, my point is not to judge or point fingers. My point is that to gain
understanding, we need to learn about each other, and the presenters have
to present facts, not seem to just make stuff up that fits their own agenda.

Whenever I have met ordinary Muslim people, they generally are very
friendly and helpful. I'll never forget the man who took me by the hand and
led me from street to street until he had gotten me to the shop I was
seeking.

Of course, more recently, because we were just visiting Jordan and Israel,
I've met a lot of Muslims trying to sell stuff on the streets, and their
obvious desperation just broke my heart.


James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Sat, Nov 5, 2016 at 7:09 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> Update:  (warning, I got carried away, and this is very long!)
>
> I couldn't go by the event this morning, but when I drove by later I saw a
> circle of people in the parking lot and hoped maybe it was a group praying
> and decided to join them. I was very disappointed not to see any of our
> local clergy or, indeed, anyone I recognized as being from our county, but
> there were quite a few folks from the Unitarian Church in Charlottesville
> (including one of my spiritual directees!) as well as a number of Muslim
> women, some of whom were handing out red roses. The group had a very
> well-prepared handout and a few signs with messages of love.
> Some of the Muslim girls decided they were going to go in and sit in the
> back to listen, and we discussed the fact that people were told to register
> ahead of time. One of the girls said she had called yesterday and was told
> that registration was closed, but she should just bring her ID.
> We went in and were stopped at the door to the auditorium and let in one
> at a time, to sign in and show ID. I had left mine in the car, and when I
> was asked for mine, I said, "That's ridiculous! Isn't this a public
> meeting?" "Yes, Ma'am, but we need your ID."  He waved the Sheriff over and
> indicated that I was to step outside. I stayed in the doorway, and the
> Sheriff came up to within about 6" of me. I said, "This is ridiculous. You
> know me. I'm Grace Cangialosi, and I'm the associate at the church up the
> street!" He waved me in.
> What I heard and saw was awful. Every passage from the Qu'ran and other
> Muslim writings that called for violence was being highlighted on a screen,
> and the speaker explained that the violent passages superseded others that
> were more peaceful, according to some later teaching or other. I got lost
> in all the details, but there was no mistaking the tone or the intent.
> After awhile the group of students I had come in with, most of them Muslim,
> left, but I decided to try to stay till the end.  But then they started
> showing a video of beatings and beheadings and burying people, and I had to
> leave.
> Outside the door I had a fairly surreal conversation with the Sheriff. I
> asked how he thought this was helpful to our community, and he said it was
> important to know this stuff, because it's the goal of Islam to conquer the
> world and put all of it under Sharia law. I said that is a small part of
> Islam, but why was he sponsoring such a one-sided presentation by
> non-Muslims. He said it wasn't one-sided, that everything the man said was
> true. I said I wasn't disputing that; my point was that it wasn't the whole
> picture of Islam, and why weren't there any Muslims involved in the
> presentation who could give a balanced view.
> Well, that wasn't going anywhere, so I commented that we Christians have
> violent passages in our scriptures, too, but they don't define a whole
> religion. He said that wasn't true, there aren't any passages like that in
> the Bible. I gave up at that point, but I'm going to send him a list.
>
> I talked with my colleague at the church later today, and she told me that
> she and two other clergy met with the Sheriff on Thursday and asked him to
> cancel the program. Jane said he admitted that he didn't know if we had any
> Muslims in the county! We do, and I talked with some of them this
> afternoon. One woman said they are mostly left alone, except for occasional
> comments, but after this program today, she's afraid.
> I think our entire Sheriff's Dept. was there today, in the lobby or
> walking around the parking lot. As I was leaving, I stopped two of the
> deputies and said, "I'm not Muslim, but if I were, after this, I'd be
> afraid to call on you for help."  They clearly didn't know what to say. I
> said, "I'm a Christian pastor, but I just thought I'd tell you that." And I
> left.
>
> So my next step is to write a letter to the paper. And then to see if I
> can help some of the folks who would like to present a whole program on
> Islam and hold it at the same community college venue.  I'm thinking maybe
> we could make it a real celebratory event, like a fair with food and music
> and crafts and Muslim speakers.
>
> But I ramble on...sorry. When I had my little churches across the
> mountain, I got in trouble for being involved in racial reconciliation
> work. Now it may happen over this. But here I have to be more careful,
> because my daughter is on the Board of Supervisors. I assured her that I
> was very polite to the Sheriff today and also in my email exchange with him
> a few days ago...
> <sigh>
>
> Grace
>
>
> >
> > "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with
> great love."
> > St. Teresa of Calcutta
>