The Many Paths to God

By -=Bruce Berrien=-

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus answered, "I am the way, the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."    John 14:5-6.

Whether we are Atheist, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Wiccan, etc., I believe that the aspect of God that we encounter when we die is the Word, God in action, no matter what we called or did not call the supreme being(s) in life. That is what John 14:6 tells us.  It is a statement of mechanism, not exclusivity.

I believe that Jesus is the highest revelation of God in human history and the best path to God. That is why I am a Christian.  I also believe that all faiths have God's truth.  I do not believe God condemns anyone because of their place of birth or faith or lack of faith, nor do I believe that Christians have an exclusive claim on God.

Conservative Christians are repelled by the possibility that their God and the God of Islam could be the same while they embrace the God of Judaism.  Muslims trace their ancestry through Ishmael, the son of Abraham by the slave girl, Hagar. Theirs is the God of Abraham whether conservative Christians like it or not. Just as the God of Judaism is the God of Abraham.  Even without the link through Abraham, I think that inherently all monotheists share the same God. 

Atheists do not believe in any Supreme Being, but are closer to God than the nominally religious.  To reject God you must first think about her.  Such thought puts an atheist closer to God than all those who are indifferent or oblivious, lost in their own daily lives. Atheists will be judged just as we all will be, on how we treat the least.

My personal belief is that everyone at some point will be confronted by God and know that God is real.  At that point whether before or after death, one can choose to be with God or not.

The immortal soul is a Greek concept, not Hebrew.  I believe that without God, there is no existence.  If a person rejects God, knowing God exists, then that person after death ceases to exist.  No hell, no eternal punishment, just ending.

The God of love that Jesus modeled desires to wrap us in her love forever, but the choice is always ours. 

The Mosque near Ground Zero in New York City

Photo by Shazron

People continue to demonstrate against the community center with a mosque inside being built.  The polls say that the majority oppose this community center because it is too close to where the twin towers once stood.  Of course, the new building will not be visible from where the twin towers block.  Politicians have come out for and against.

Why is this happening?  People are frustrated with what is going on in their lives.  Many fear the changes in this country as a more urban, less white group of leaders begin to take over.  Many have felt the monetary effects of the recession.  Savings have been lost.  Retirement set back or put off indefinitely.  There is real fear that a middle class way of life is being taken away from the majority of Americans.  People who are afraid need to feel they still have power.  One way to feel power is to focus on another group to denigrate and feel superior to.  Muslims are the group that has received that focus.

Leaders in some Christian venues have fanned the fear into hatred of Muslims.  All Muslims have been made a threat to Christianity.  Regularly, emails circulate through churches containing diatribes against Muslims and creating the vision of Muslims as being two-faced, polite to us on one hand and plotting our demise on the other. The message is that it is either or.  Christianity must defeat Islam or fall.

Republicans have also played a part in this, fanning the flames of hatred and coming out against the mosque and the man trying to build the community center.  They have even toyed with the issue of our President's faith.  In the hysteria of the moment some Americans believe the President is Muslim not Christian.  An interview he did in 2004 is circulating through the faith community trying to fan that belief.  How?   In the interview, then State Senator Obama does not use the code words of faith that evangelicals would use.  His answers reflect a more intellectual approach to faith, but a very strong faith.  Those lack of code words will convince some that he is not a Christian.  How sad.

My question:  Why does it matter what faith he is as long as he upholds his oath of office?

If it does matter, then we are not a tolerant nation.  A Muslim is as much a person of faith as a Christian.  Christian, Muslim, Jew all worship the God of Abraham.  Even this may be too much.  Shouldn't an atheist be able to be President?  I would say yes as long as we have a very clear knowledge of his value system.  Will an atheist ever be President?  I doubt it.  To be elected a person will have to have at least nominal faith.

Christians need to reflect on our heritage.  Jesus said to "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those that mistreat you."  He summed it up:  "Do to others as you would have them do to you."  Denying someone their place to worship is not fulfilling the Golden Rule.

The United States was not designed to allow majority rule.  The United States was designed to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.  We need to act under that premise.  The community center with the mosque must be built.

                                                 

Estimates of Religious Populations Require a Bit of Faith - WSJ.com

Americans are obsessed with counting noses, but our census does not survey religious affiliation. We are left with a variety of counts some accurate, some speculation.  If you click on the title of this entry you will go to the Wall Street Journal article on the subject.  The illustration above comes from the same article.

Despite right-wing rhetoric on the threats to Christianity in this country, Christianity remains the dominant faith in the United States.  Protestants form the majority among Christians. Evangelical Baptists the majority among Protestants.  I find it hard to believe that the small minority can suppress such a large majority.

Muslim Center Two Blocks from Ground Zero

 Controversy surrounds the possible construction of a mosque and Muslim community center two blocks from ground zero in New York.  The building standing there now was damaged by one of the engines from a jet that hit the World Trade Center towers.  To read some comments by Mayor Bloomberg click on the title of this blog.

People affected in different ways by the tragedy have spoken against the new structure.  Most, but not all, equating the worshipers that would attend services at the mosque with the radicals that claimed their acts of terror were done in fulfillment of their Islamic faith.  I have even received emails from friends in my church containing screeds against all Muslims and expressing the belief that the mosque is a Muslim plot to honor the bombers.


How easily we forget the excesses of our faith.  How many innocents were burned at the stake?  Tortured on the rack?  Endured unspeakable horrors inflicted by those that called themselves Christian?  Even today, some of my Baptist brethren will tell you Catholics are not Christians.  The more fervent the belief the farther we are willing to go, for example, abortion doctors killed by Christian zealots. 

Christians and Muslims are not so different.  The majority struggle to understand and follow the dictates of their faith in our everyday lives.  Only on the fringe do we find those who would distort the faith and kill in its name.  Murder is a sin in any faith.


The mosque and community center should be built.  Christians are admonished not to judge.  I think that scripture is particularly apt with applied to other faiths.  How dare we try to limit God and say he can be experienced only one way. While I believe Christianity is the clearest expression of God and humankind's relationship,  I do not believe Christianity is the only true revelation of God. Jesus spoke of other shepherds, surely some are Imams.


Finally, let me say that the mosque should be built because Muslims died on 9/11, and I am not referring to the hijackers.  Below is a partial list of Muslims that were killed that day from Ask.com.  Remember them when the mosque becomes reality.  Honor them. 

Partial List of Muslim Victims:
Note: This list is as yet incomplete and unconfirmed.  It has been compiled from the Islamic Circle of North America, the Newsday victims database, and reports from other major news organizations.  The victims' ages, employers, or other personal information is included when available, along with links to further information or photos.
Samad Afridi
Ashraf Ahmad
Shabbir Ahmad (45 years old; Windows on the World; leaves wife and 3 children)
Umar Ahmad
Azam Ahsan
Ahmed Ali
Tariq Amanullah (40 years old; Fiduciary Trust Co.; ICNA website team member; leaves wife and 2 children)
Touri Bolourchi (69 years old; United Airlines #175; a retired nurse from Tehran)
Salauddin Ahmad Chaudhury
Abdul K. Chowdhury (30 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
Mohammad S. Chowdhury (39 years old; Windows on the World; leaves wife and child born 2 days after the attack)
Jamal Legesse Desantis
Ramzi Attallah Douani (35 years old; Marsh & McLennan)
SaleemUllah Farooqi
Syed Fatha (54 years old; Pitney Bowes)
Osman Gani
Mohammad Hamdani (50 years old)
Salman Hamdani (NYPD Cadet)
Aisha Harris (21 years old; General Telecom)
Shakila Hoque (Marsh & McLennan)
Nabid Hossain
Shahzad Hussain
Talat Hussain
Mohammad Shah Jahan (Marsh & McLennan)
Yasmeen Jamal
Mohammed Jawarta (MAS security)
Arslan Khan Khakwani
Asim Khan
Ataullah Khan
Ayub Khan
Qasim Ali Khan
Sarah Khan (32 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
Taimour Khan (29 years old; Karr Futures)
Yasmeen Khan
Zahida Khan
Badruddin Lakhani
Omar Malick
Nurul Hoque Miah (36 years old)
Mubarak Mohammad (23 years old)
Boyie Mohammed (Carr Futures)
Raza Mujtaba
Omar Namoos
Mujeb Qazi
Tarranum Rahim
Ehtesham U. Raja (28 years old)
Ameenia Rasool (33 years old)
Naveed Rehman
Yusuf Saad
Rahma Salie & unborn child (28 years old; American Airlines #11; wife of Michael Theodoridis; 7 months pregnant)
Shoman Samad
Asad Samir
Khalid Shahid (25 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald; engaged to be married in November)
Mohammed Shajahan (44 years old; Marsh & McLennan)
Naseema Simjee (Franklin Resources Inc.'s Fiduciary Trust)
Jamil Swaati
Sanober Syed
Robert Elias Talhami (40 years old; Cantor Fitzgerald)
Michael Theodoridis (32 years old; American Airlines #11; husband of Rahma Salie)
W. Wahid 


Photo from andrewroman.net

Islam in the World - Statistics

A new study on the distribution and population of Muslims has been published. An article in the Guardian touches on the major conclusions of the Pew study.

One in four people in the world is Muslim. One in three people in the world is Christian. Christianity and Islam account for more than half (7/12) of all religious people in the world.

Both these monotheistic religions share a common progenitor: Abraham. Abraham's two sons father great societies. From Isaac, the younger son, come the Jews. From Ishmael, the older son, come the Arabs.

Both Jews and Arabs worship one God. I believe they worship the same God. If each would realize that perhaps peace would come to the Middle East.

We learn from the demographic study that most Muslims live in Asia, but Muslims can be found everywhere. Christians need to realize that Islam is a complex and nuanced religion. Most Muslims only want to live peacefully. There are only a fringe groups of jihadists, just as in Christianity there are fringe groups that espouse violence. We must learn to coexist in a diverse religious world.

The Call

TheCall

Shared via AddThis


The message speaks of Convergence and subtly attacks President Obama. The statement that he was silent on the National Day of Prayer is false. President Obama issued a national proclamation for the Day of Prayer. The Justice Department has defended the National Day of Prayer in a lawsuit brought by an atheist in Ohio. What President Obama did not do was hold a prayer breakfast and make the day a political spectacle like his predecessor, George Bush. Somehow, this makes him less a Christian.

The essay then goes on to emphasize President Obama's statements in reference to Islam. The message neglects to mention that President Bush made the same kind of statements. Both Presidents were attempting to distinguish radical Islam from moderate Islam and to acknowledge the presence of Muslims as citizens of the United States. President Obama statements were not made because he is a secret Muslim; what I take the implication to be. The other implication is that that Islam is somehow aligned with evil (dark powers). I believe I worship the same God as Muslims although they call him Allah. A Christian should never engage in such rhetoric which could incite some deluded souls to violence against Muslims.

Christians have our own history of violent excesses that I believe as a whole we have moved beyond. Now violence only exists on the fringes in such areas as the antiabortion movement. Lou Engle, who is the author of some of this, is part of the antiabortion movement. I believe that he sees threats of violence and evil in Islam because he has seen the same in the radicals of the antiabortion movement. He knows what extreme views and rhetoric can produce.

This message plays into the fears of Christians and calls attention to the Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. Somehow this gathering is seen as a threat because the Muslims would pray that the White House become a Muslim house. I see no difference in that and the call to prayer at the end of this message asking that Christianity be supreme. People of faith want their religion to be victorious and all to see the light that they believe is their own.

I am no different. I am a Christian and believe that Christ is the truest revelation of God. But, I believe that God reveals himself in all religions and that there are many paths to the truth. When Jesus says that all come to God through Him, I believe that is true. Jesus is God in action, the God we can meet. However, that does not mean we have to believe as a Christian. Jesus simply imparts a truth: He is the part of God that ushers us into eternity whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or other.

The section titled "Here is The Call" reveals the true nature of this message: the desire to convert all Muslims to Christianity and the belief that the spiritual powers behind Islam must be restrained by God. This call to prayer is a call for Christian supremacy. The implication that Muslims are not to be respected because their faith is guided by dark powers. There is only a short step to believing that Muslims are evil. To me, the underlying message is akin to antisemitism and just as bad.

We should pray. Christians have a model prayer that Christ gave us. There is nothing in that prayer that puts us above others. Instead, we ask deliverance from evil and forgiveness for our failings. I will pray on September 25th for God to forgive me for failing to love as God wants us to. I will pray for the well-being of my Muslim brethren.

This same discussion with some added features can be found in another blog post.

A Call for Concern

The email message below was sent to every member of my Sunday School class by another member. Such messages as this are reasons I am no longer attending regularly. The Islamic Day of Prayer (Muslims to Pray for 'Soul of America' at U.S. Capitol Event - washingtonpost.com Shared via AddThis)has become a target for right wing Christians and a way to attack the President.

The message first speaks of Convergence and subtly attacks President Obama. The statement that he was silent on the National Day of Prayer is false. President Obama issued a national proclamation for the Day of Prayer. The Justice Department has defended the National Day of Prayer in a lawsuit brought by an atheist in Ohio. What President Obama did not do was hold a prayer breakfast and make the day a political spectacle like his predecessor, George Bush. Somehow, this makes him less a Christian.

The email then goes on to emphasize President Obama's statements in reference to Islam. The message neglects to mention that President Bush made the same kind of statements. Both Presidents were attempting to distinguish radical Islam from moderate Islam and to acknowledge the presence of Muslims as citizens of the United States. President Obama statements were not made because he is a secret Muslim; what I take the implication to be. The other implication is that that Islam is somehow aligned with evil (dark powers). I believe I worship the same God as Muslims although they call him Allah. A Christian should never engage in such rhetoric which could incite some deluded souls to violence against Muslims.

Christians have our own history of violent excesses that I believe as a whole we have moved beyond. Now violence only exists on the fringes in such areas as the antiabortion movement. Lou Engle, who is the author of some of this email, is part of the antiabortion movement. I believe that he sees threats of violence and evil in Islam because he has seen the same in the radicals of the antiabortion movement. He knows what extreme views and rhetoric can produce.

This message plays into the fears of Christians and calls attention to the Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington, D.C. Somehow this gathering is seen as a threat because the Muslims would pray that the White House become a Muslim house. I see no difference in that and the call to prayer at the end of this message asking that Christianity be supreme. People of faith want their religion to be victorious and all to see the light that they believe is their own.

I am no different. I am a Christian and believe that Christ is the truest revelation of God. But, I believe that God reveals himself in all religions and that there are many paths to the truth. When Jesus says that all come to God through Him, I believe that is true. Jesus is God in action, the God we can meet. However, that does not mean we have to believe as a Christian. Jesus simply imparts a truth: He is the part of God that ushers us into eternity whether we are Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or other.

The email uses the controversy over a 17 year old runaway to slam Islam again. The story of Rifqa Bary is not as stated in this message. She may well be a young woman incited to run away from home by Christian zealots who hate and fear Islam. Up to now, there is no evidence that her allegations are true or that she is in any danger. Yet, this email says she is a sign that Muslims in America will be converted to Christianity.

The section titled "Here is The Call" reveals the true nature of this email message: the desire to convert all Muslims to Christianity and the belief that the spiritual powers behind Islam must be restrained by God. This call to prayer is a call for Christian supremacy. The implication that Muslims are not to be respected because their faith is guided by dark powers. There is only a short step to believing that Muslims are evil. To me, the underlying message is akin to antisemitism and just as bad.

We should pray. Christians have a model prayer that Christ gave us. There is nothing in that prayer that puts us above others. Instead, we ask deliverance from evil and forgiveness for our failings. I will pray on September 25th for God to forgive me for failing to love as God does.

The last off this pernicious email is a calendar of events supplied by Lisa Crump with the National Day of Prayer, a private organization. Among other things, it betrays a pro-Israel bias. President Obama is referred to as Mr. O, surely an attempt to belittle him. Finally, the calendar states that the Chinese flag will fly over the White House. This is simply not true. The Chinese are planning to fly their flag nearby, but not at the White House. This is another attack aimed at President Obama.

God does not bend to our will. God has his own agenda. Our duty as Christians is to seek his will, not our own. My only fear is that gullible Christians will be swept up in this fear driven and hate filled movement against Muslims and President Obama. Even then, though, I trust God. He is not bound by time or our petty disputes. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Photo by dbking

Subject: A Call for Concern

.

Plan to join this urgently called National Prayer Conference Call on Thursday 9/24 regarding the subjects below

7:30-9 pm EASTERN

6:30-8 pm CENTRAL

5:30 -7 pm MOUNTAIN

4:30-6 pm PACIFIC

712-432-0233 Pass Code 637# (NDP)

Please forward as you are led and able. If you are called to fast with this urgent time of intercession, ask the Lord about these 3 days: Sept 24th, 25th and 26th.

Urgent Call to Prayer: Signs of the Times

Convergence

It is critical that the church in America understands the times and what needs to be done now. The natural things speak of the invisible. Natural happenings on the earth are revealing something that is going on in the spiritual realm. There is a great spiritual conflict with a rising tide of Islamic boldness being manifested. Several happenings are converging this week. First of all, our President has recently proclaimed, honored, encouraged the Muslim holy days of prayer and fasting called Ramadan. He was very silent on the National Day of Prayer but very vocal on the support of Ramadan. Interestingly at the same time a major Christian leader of the Emergent Church called for forty days of fasting and prayer in the same Ramadan period with the goal that the church will better understand our Muslim friends. We are all for understanding but we must have spiritual discernment as to the spiritual dark powers that are being invoked into our nation.

Cause for Concern

At the same time, on the 25th of September, Muslims are calling for a Muslim Day of Prayer in Washington DC (http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/). They are calling for 50,000 Muslims to gather and pray on the DC Mall. This is the exact word of one of the Sheikhs who is leading this historic gathering, “Muslims should march on the White House. We are going to the White House so that Islam will be victorious, Allah willing, and the White House will become into a Muslim house.” These are not empty words. They speak of a dark spiritual intent and a coming day of great trouble to America.

A Divine Moment

Now one of these events is enough to awaken us to this significant throbbing moment, but when they all converge it becomes a massive spiritual alarm that must be responded to by the praying Church. However, I believe in this moment of divine providence God has raised up on the stage of history a little “Esther” that if we pray and fast for her she could be a major voice to expose the dark under-belly of Islam and radiate a bright hope for a day of salvation for Muslims in America.

Headlines

On Monday, Rifqa Bary, a young 17-year-old woman, will be in the headlines of US news. Four years ago, while living in a very devout and radical Muslim home, Rifqa met Jesus in a powerful way as her savior. She hid her conversion, began praying secretly, and began hiding her bible from her parents. Then, on Facebook, her love for Jesus was exposed to the radical Muslim community in Ohio. Rifqa’s father demanded that she renounce Jesus or he would kill her as is commanded by the Koran. As a radiant believer in Jesus she refused to renounce her Lord and fled to Orlando where she was taken in and cared for by a Christian Church and family. Now, the father is appealing to the courts to bring her back under his custody. Major television networks have already covered her story. How must the Church of America respond in this moment for our sister who is a part of the Body of Christ?

A Major Sign

This convergence, I believe, is urgently summoning us in the midst of the rising tide of Islamic influence in America to recognize that our God is above every god and that if we return to Him with all of our hearts and call upon Him with fasting and prayer then God could use what the enemy meant for evil to bring about a great day of salvation for Muslims in America, of which Rifqa is but a major sign.

Here is The Call

First of all, we cannot be passive as a Church to let these kinds of developments go on without being challenged in the spirit. Our fight is not against Muslims, it is against principal intities, powers, and forces of darkness. We are calling the Church of America at the end of Ramadan, from September 21st through 25th, to five days of concerted prayer. On Monday, we must pray that God would grant supernatural wisdom to the courts so that the testimony of Jesus would be proclaimed and that the best situation for Rifqa and her family would take place. We must pray for Rifqa to be bold in proclaiming Jesus that even thousands of Muslims would hear and be awakened to the love of Christ. She has already said that this is not about her but about many Muslims coming to Jesus. We must pray for her lawyers who are being bullied, threatened, and challenged on every side. On Friday, September 25th, the Muslim Day of Prayer, we are calling the Church of America to fast and pray that Muslims would be moved by the Holy Spirit, convicted by the testimony of Christ, and even be visited by Jesus in dreams. We must pray that God would restrain the spiritual powers behind Islam and grant us the great awakening that we desperately need for America. (Just look at the Dome on the Rock in Jerusalem - once was "ours", now "theirs".)

Let us hear the call to prayer and not miss this moment,

Lou Engle
The Call

CRITICAL EVENTS

• 9-1-09 - The US began its turn in holding the rotating presidency of the 15-member UN Security Council. The role of president involves setting the agenda, presiding at its meetings and overseeing any crisis.
• 9-14-09 - The new assembly of the United Nations opened with the new president of the General Assembly - the ambassador from Libya.
• At an unknown-to-me-at-this-time date - Obama will address the UN General Assembly followed by the Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi. He will also host a luncheon for visiting sub-Saharan African heads of state, another one for the dozen top UN peacekeeper-contributing nations, as well as host the traditional US evening reception for world leaders.
• 9-18-09 - The Jewish New Year begins (5770)
• 9-23-09 - See You At The Pole prayer rally on high school campuses.
• 9-22 or 23-09 - Obama has called a meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York. This meeting will require Netanyahu, defense minister Ehud Barak and foreign minister Lieberman to be absent from Israel over the New Year Festival - an obvious snub of this major Jewish celebration. It is expected that yet more pressure will be placed on Israel to give up land in that tiny country for "peace" to people who have vowed not to accept peace until Israel is obliterated.
• 9-23-09 - Obama will meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
• 9-24-09 - Obama is scheduled to chair a Security Council session on global nuclear disarmament, the first such event by the 15-nation body.
• 9-24/25-09 - The G-20, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank will meet in the Convention Center in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. O will host this meeting. The primary purpose of this meeting will be to address the world monetary crisis.
• 9-25-09 - 50,000 Moslems will gather opposite the ellipse in front of the White House for prayer with the intent of praying to Allah for victory and that the White House become a Muslim House.
• 9-30-09 - The 30 days of Ramadan end.
• 10-1-09 - The Communist Chinese flag will be allowed to fly at the White House.
• On-going - Security agencies are on high alert for terrorist activities as the FBI plans and conducts more raids in New York City.

Sent to advance the Kingdom of God and His divine purposes in this hour.

AGAPE! Lisa Crump, NDP Task Force, Director of Prayer Mobilization