|
|
Worshipping the Same God? I don't think so! I recently read a very interesting book, Do We Worship the Same God?, by George Dardess. The book attempts to give readers a comparison of the Bible and the Quran (Koran) so that readers can determine if the statement from Vatican 2 that Christians and Moslems worship the same God is true. The book is good in many respects, but there is one area which I believe downplays the differences too much. In Chapter 15, "What Do We Each Believe about the Lesser Jihad," Mr. Dardess sets our verses (suras) 1-16 from chapter 9 of the Quran. Chapter 9 includes verse 5 which talks about slaying, running down and capturing "idolaters." Mr. Dardess interprets this term as "pagan Bedouin tribes." However, I do not believe that Mr. Dardess is correct. If you read on down through chapter 9, it talks about idolaters and comapres them to those who believe, suggesting that idolaters are non-believers. Then in verse 30 one finds the following: "And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!" Christians are, thus, branded non-believers against whom Allah will fight. The proper interpretation, then, of "idolaters" would seem to be all who are not Moslems, regardless of whether they are pagans, Jews or Christians. Such an interpretation would appear to be in line with the attitude of current terrorists which seek to overthrow Israel and the United States and also in line with the attitudes of many Moslems who live in this country. There have been reports of cab drivers who refuse to transport people who have anything which is contrary to Islamic tradition or law, such as alcoholic beverages or pork products. There has also been at least one case in which a Moslem man claimed making him follow American laws about treatment of his spouse was a violation of his freedom of religion. Finally, we have the recent Pew poll which produced the amazing results that approximately 20% of all Moslems in America accept suicide bombings and 26% of young Moslems believe such bombings are appropriate to defend Islam. There are many Moslems whom I have met who are fine people and not terrorists. I respect them and am happy to have them in this country. However, we must also understand that Islam is not accepting or tolerant of other religious beliefs or of the basic precepts underlying Western society, namely freedom of self-determination and tolerance. No where in the New Testament do you find language similar to that in the Quran with Christ telling his followers to kill non-believers. In fact Christ tells his disciples merely to shake from their sandals the dust of a village where Christ's message is not accepted. With these substantial differences in how Christians and Moslems are encouraged to evangelize and to treat those who do not accept their teachings, I cannot accept that we worship the same God. How could God have Christ, whom Christian's believe is God's son, tell us to love our enemies and at most to show contempt for those who do not agree with his teachings and then several hundred years later tell a prophet to instruct his followers to kill those who accept Christ as God's son? |
|
