Folks of all religions
should follow their faiths

Speaking of Religion
The Rev. Dr. Tim Griffin

Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, "Let me take the speck out of your eye," while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye. (Matthew 7: 3-5)

One often hears these days that Islam is a violent religion, spreading hate and warfare around the globe. In part, I can understand why some would prefer to jump to this conclusion rather than to consider the reality of the situation.
We like simple answers, particularly if the question to be addressed is a difficult one, and there is no simpler answer than to cast blame on something or someone else, particularly if we share more than a small measure of responsibility for what has occurred ourselves. As the citation above indicates, these are attitudes that Jesus understood quite well and about which he warned us to be on the lookout in ourselves.
I believe a willingness to reflect carefully and charitably may enable us to see through the stereotypes and prejudices that are informing our attitudes towards Islam. After all, only if we are willing to reflect in these ways, i.e., carefully and charitably, can we truly say we are heeding Jesus’ counsel by attempting to remove the log from our own eye. So let us begin by reflecting on a couple of examples in order to draw the most plausible conclusion from them.
First, let us consider Christianity. As many have noted, the history of Christianity is filled with instances of aggression and violence. Those of us who are Christians have a significant legacy to live down in this regard.
We have the history of the Crusades, which were largely cases of unprovoked violence against Muslims by western European Christians, to name one instance. We also have the Inquisition, during which many Jews, Muslims and Christians were tortured and killed for their failure to adhere to prescribed beliefs of the "Christian" faith. Similarly, during the period of the Reformation, blood was shed across Europe in conflicts between Protestants and Catholics.
Do these instances mean that Christianity is a violent religion? As a Christian, I reject this conclusion, and I suspect that most Christians do so as well. It is not that Christianity is violent. Rather, these episodes show that Christians have often failed to live up to the ideals of the faith.
Of course these are episodes from long ago, you say. Have we, as Christians, progressed beyond these attitudes? I’m not convinced we have.
Many Christians fully supported the invasion of Iraq despite the paucity of evidence to justify it. And many Christians endorse the use of torture and believe that it is acceptable to imprison people indefinitely without charging them with a crime, providing the right of habeas corpus or even an impartial trial.
Does the fact that some Christians support these measures and that an administration largely comprised of Christians engages in them mean that Christianity is violent? Again, I reject that conclusion because these attitudes and actions fall short — far short — of the ideal of Christianity.
And what of Judaism? In the recent conflict with Lebanon, Israel launched thousands of cluster bombs against a predominantly civilian population. Many of these bombs were launched after the cease-fire date was announced. Thousands of the small bombs that are contained in cluster bombs remain unexploded and are continuing to kill and maim civilians in Lebanon.
Does this mean that Judaism is inherently violent because the government of Israel took this action? I’m not Jewish, but I reject that conclusion because I know that these actions fall short — far short — of the ideals of Judaism.
And what of Islam? We are told that the fanatical members of ideological terrorist cells are representative of Islam. But these are murderers and thugs who have no regard for human life. Worse yet, they are using Islam as a mask from behind which they carry out their misanthropic projects.
Does this mean that Islam is inherently violent? I am not a Muslim, but I reject that conclusion because I know that these actions and attitudes fall short — far short — of the ideals of Islam.
If there is to be any hope for peace in this world, the faithful who are striving to live out the ideals of their respective traditions need to trust one another. We must be more willing to work to remove the log from our eyes so that we may see others more clearly and work with them for peace.
We cannot leave this to the politicians, fundamentalists or the fanatics. We must instead look to God and follow our faith. ••