Re: Fw: Get to know a ...

These are certainly healthy things for any of us to do. I love to hear
stories from missionaries of muslims and christians working together
peacefully in other cultures. See this link for two stories from
Indonesia. http://www.mwc-cmm.org/MWC/Material/WFSstoriesNA.pdf
I have this fantasy of muslims and christians befriending each other in
such a way that Neither requires the other to denigrate their own
beliefs into a kind of wishy-washy "I'm okay, you're okay just the way
we are" kind of pluralism. Each would recognize the other as having
deep convictions they wish to share and invite the other into given any
opportunity, and yet both would also never make their friendship
contingent on any eventual conversion but would respect the other's
wishes in IF or how they go about explicitly sharing with each other.
The demand that one must warmly affirm everything about who another
person is and what they do before they can qualify as a caring friend
mystifies me, and yet perhaps nobody is actually making that demand, and
it is only a conservative caricature of what they perceive as a liberal
demand.

--merv

Carol or John Burgeson wrote:

> Bob Schneider recently urged us to "get to know an atheist." Good advice.
> To counteract the "us vs them" world view, that advice ought to apply to
> many categories.
>
> Get to know a Muslim. I had never done that -- till my Presbyterian
> church in Denver decided to join with other religious bodies, including
> two Catholic churches and two Jewish groups, to build a Habitat for
> Humanity house for a ... Muslim. I got to work with this gentleman, a
> naturalized native of Egypt, 13 years an American, and a devout Muslim.
> We had much more in common than differences. When we hit our thumb with
> the hammer we had similar comments!
>
> Get to know a gay or lesbian. I have done that. The ones I know, all
> devout Christians by the way, are decent, caring, people. They do not
> wear horns nor do they seek to "corrupt the youth."
>
> Get to know a homeless person. Can't say I have done that, although I
> have had more than a few encounters and conversations with persons that
> fit this description. I worked in a food bank in Durango for about a year
> -- it was an eye-opener to meet with, and help, people who were so far
> down on their luck that 40# of food could make a real difference in their
> lives.
> Get to know a Catholic (or Protestant if you are Catholic). I am
> fortunate in that one of my very best friends, once a colleague at IBM,
> is a full Catholic priest, having become one after his wife died. My
> wife, similar, has a great relationship with a certain Catholic nun. We
> are richer because of these people.
>
> Get to know a Mormon -- 7th day Adventist -- etc. A Native American, a
> person of a different race (I'm good at this, having three adopted
> Koreans and two Vietnamese daughter-in-laws).
> Bob's admonition -- "Get to know ... " will enrich your life, and go a
> long way towards a more civil society. Shoot -- I even have Republican
> friends! They, too, don't wear horns.
>
> Dick commented: "H'mmm, take an atheist home to dinner? "Hi, honey, I
> brought an atheist
> home tonight. I know, it was a cat burglar last night and a serial
> rapist last week ..."
>
> Well, friend wife and I just had two people who claim atheism over for
> pancakes last week. Fine people. Someday we may win them to the gospel.
> To equate them with the other two categories is simply ludicrous.
>
> Dick continues: "And what does your friend say when you share the gospel
> with him?"
>
> They are polite and sometimes we have a civil conversation. They were
> both at a memorial service last week (first time I've known either to be
> in a church service) in which my wife, pastor of the Rico Community
> Church, preached the gospel. They were not offended.
> Burgy
>
>
>
>
>
Received on Sun Mar 19 21:06:30 2006