Jihadi Du Jour: We Are Not The Same

My diocese newspaper had an interesting article in it which caught my attention. It is by Father Ron Rolheiser and can be read on his website, www.ronrolheiser.com. In the piece he is describing the "last testament" of a monk/missionary who was martyred by members of the religion of peace. The testament is a moving account of forgiveness and acceptance of a fate that eventually was his.

In the commentary that followed he makes a statement about the two faiths, Christian and Islam, which caused me to shudder:

What this extraordinarily courageous Abbott calls us to is what's deepest inside Christianity and all authentic religion, namely, a solidarity with others, all others, that's based upon a common God and a common humanity, a fact that relativizes every other difference. We are brothers and sisters, all of us, Muslims and Christians, and everyone else, under one gaze of love from God.

But that's not easy to see, nor accept, when daily we are hating, imprisoning, torturing, and killing each other in the name of God and our respective values. What Father Christian invites us to is to live out of the Gospel, not out of our feelings.

What! Has he been talking to Rosie? I'm sure that the good Father Ron had the best intentions in encouraging an ecumenical dialogue but I would disagree that we, meaning Christians, are hating torturing and killing in the name of God. No matter how you analyze the world situation...it is Islam which has cornered the market on those things.

I would appreciate it if the people who are supposed to be speaking for Christ (and/or for me) would refrain from implicating me in some wrongdoing and have the "chutzpah" to place the blame where it belongs.

Labels: Christianity vs Islam, The Religion Of Peace