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"If
judgment is to be made it needs to be made by God and not by those
of us who have divided ourselves up around a particular
ideology," said Rev Edgar
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OHIO,
May 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Evangelical Christians
from several U.S. states gathered for an all-day seminar on how to court
Muslims into converting to Christianity, as Muslim Americans warned the
new hostility to Islam and insults to Prophet Muhammad would provoke an
outcry among moderate Muslims, a leading U.S. newspaper reported
Tuesday, May 27.
At
the daylong seminar in the hall of Southwest Grace Brethren Church, one
of the participants, an evangelical missionary from Beirut, gave tips on
how to reach Muslims, The New York Times reported.
"Don't
approach them in groups. Don't bring them to your church, because they
will misunderstand the singing and clapping as a party. Do invite them
home for a meal. Do bring them chocolate chip cookies. Do talk about
how, in order to get saved, they must accept Jesus," he said.
The
man, who did not want to put his name because being a missionary to
Muslims put his life at risk, also exhorted his audience, who included
college students, two pastors and a school secretary, to "show
Muslims love, charity and hospitality."
He
told them to "carry copies of the New Testament to give as
gifts" to Muslims.
The
missionary, who stressed the need to avoid offending Muslims, projected
a PowerPoint presentation showing passages from the Qur’an that he
claimed proved Islam was "regressive and violent."
Citing
verses from the Muslims holy book, he claimed "Here in the Koran,
it says slay them, slay the infidels!
"In
the Bible there are no words from Jesus saying we should kill innocent
people," he argued.
Quickening
Interest
In
interviews, evangelical scholars and leaders cite several reasons for
their quickening interest in Islam, the Times said.
They
cited the American defeat of a major Muslim nation, Iraq,
which may open it to Christian missionaries, while other Muslim nations
remain closed; the 2001 terrorist attacks, which led many Americans to
see Islam as a global threat; and the demise of Communism, once public
enemy No. 1 for many evangelical organizations.
"Evangelicals
have substituted Islam for the Soviet Union," said Rev. Richard
Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs of the National
Association of Evangelicals, which represents 43,000 congregations.
"The
Muslims have become the modern-day equivalent of the Evil Empire,"
he claimed.
The
American daily said in evangelical churches and seminaries across the
country, lectures and books criticizing Islam and promoting strategies
for Muslim conversions are gaining currency.
Arab
International Ministry, the Indianapolis group that led the crash course
on Islam, claims to have trained 4,500 American Christians to
proselytize Muslims in the last six years, many of those since the 2001
terrorist attacks.
Evangelical
Christian leaders, who met in Washington on May 8, reaffirmed their
commitment to proselytizing.
They
castigated mainline Protestants and groups like the World Council of
Churches of holding "naive" dialogue sessions with Muslims
that minimized theological and political differences.
The
sharp language from senior Evangelists like Franklin Graham, Jerry
Falwell, Pat Robertson and Jerry Vines has drawn rebukes from Muslims
and Christian groups alike.
Falwell
apologized in October 2002 for calling the Prophet Mohammed “a terrorist”,
after his anti-Islamic remarks had caused an uproar throughout the
world.
The
National Association of Evangelicals, however, called on Christian
leaders this month to temper their anti-Islam oratory, saying it had
been unhelpful to interfaith relations and dangerous to Christians
spreading the gospel to Muslims.
While
some evangelical leaders welcomed the criticism, others bristled and
alleged it was not the Christians but the Muslims who must stop the
hate-speech.
Stark
Contrast
The
conservative evangelical approach to Islam is, however, in stark
contrast with the "interfaith understanding" approach of many
Orthodox, Roman Catholic and mainline Protestant churches.
Since
9/11, local churches in these denominations began inviting Muslims to
explain their faith at a flurry of interfaith events and dialogue
sessions.
"God
calls all of us to have an open mind and an open heart," said Rev.
Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches,
which represents many Protestant and Orthodox denominations.
"And
many of the people who are part of the National Council of Churches
believe that if judgment is to be made it needs to be made by God and
not by those of us who have divided ourselves up around a particular
ideology."
These
churches acknowledge theological differences between Christianity and
Islam, but stress the common roots and essential compatibility.
They
teach that Muslims are monotheists, "Allah" is simply Arabic
for God, and both faiths share Abraham
as patriarch.
New
Hostility
Akbar
Ahmed, chairman of the Islamic studies department at American
University, said he grew up attending Catholic and Protestant missionary
schools in Pakistan, but never heard a negative word about Islam from
the missionaries.
Now,
he stressed, the new hostility to Islam and, in particular, the insults
to Prophet Muhammad have outraged the Muslim world.
"The
whole range of Muslims, from orthodox to liberal secularists, are all
lined up against these attacks coming from the American
evangelists," said Ahmed, the author of a new book "Islam
Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World."
The
New York Times quoted him as saying that
"unwittingly, these evangelists have unleashed a consolidation of
sentiments for Islam. Even the most moderate Muslims have been upset by
this."
The
push for conversions may backfire for the evangelists, he warned, since
Muslims who may have been open to the missionaries' presence feel their
honor has been insulted.
