And if you choose to — if you believe in the Almighty, you can — you’re equally an American. If you’re a Jew, Christian or Muslim or Hindi or whatever. It is one of the great traits and traditions of our country, where people can worship the way you see fit. Interview on Larry King Live (CNN), Aug. 15, 2004
I heard Bush say something similar to this on the radio today. I think what he and many Americans do not understand is that religions, such as Islam, worship in such a way that drives them to hate infidels. They do not have an evangelistic message of liberation, but rather they have an existential message of servant-hood which teaches the complete annihilation of infidels.
In Islam, there is no grace, but rather there is only submission or death. In Christendom there is grace, and if one does not desire to come to Christ then they are not forced to come. Although, this does not mean that this infidel can begin to create their own heretical movement to destroy God’s Church. Or does it?
Do we tolerate those who desire us to follow Islamic or other cultic ethics within our communities? At what point do we restrain this person or peoples? Doctrinal and ethical neutrality is impossible, and so if God has given us a homeland to be good stewards of, then what ethical system do we institute? Is there such an ethical system that America is striving for that could be even marginally inclusive to other faiths? Is God pleased with this pursuit? If not, what would He have us do?
very pressing and poignant questions. I (and no doubt others) have also heard similar or even precisely the same things. Whatever can and should be said about religion, both in private and public squares, there are ‘fundamentally’(sometimes that term misleads)different approaches to how religion relates to societies/individual. It seems that, broadly speaking, religion in the east is so intricately associated with life that only a very thin distinction holds between life and faith. However, in the west, religion seems to be thought of, implicitly or explicitly, as something that one can go about choosing, trying, and without much muster, give up at any time for something else that may work or please. (Notice how this cuts through talk of individual vs. corporate as a way to explain America’s religious declination) Now, whatever can be said of either approach, it does seem that the Christian faith is not the kind of thing that fellow westerners have conceived of or unwittingly practice. We cannot read our bibles, nor worship God without feeling (or intuiting) that He is everywhere, always and desirous to see what we call goodness pervade the entire earth. This vital element is somewhat lost in a ‘western’ mind so called.
Mark, I sometimes dream of being a missionary in the East - not my call though…at this time of my life.
Western consumerism smothers Eastern culture year after year. How can we ever bring back Christianity’s Eastern motive?