Unprecedented Muslim call for peace with Christians

[sabra]

Source: reuters

LONDON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - More than 130 Muslim scholars from around the globe called on Thursday for peace and understanding between Islam and Christianity, saying "the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake".

In an unprecedented letter to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders, 138 Muslim scholars said finding common ground between the world's biggest faiths was not simply a matter for polite dialogue between religious leaders.

"If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants," the scholars wrote.

"Our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake," they wrote, adding that Islam and Christianity already agreed that love of God and neighbour were the two most important commandments of their faiths.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L11200407.htm

[babylonsister]

1. I love this. Recommended! nt

[mallard]

46. too bad so many 'Christians' have been brainwashed away

from such a rational approach in favor of the current regime of diplomacy by accusation & threat, 'assistance' by invasion & occupation and the politics of confronting an enemy we've created through godless racist policy, as being the source of resident evil.

In fact the true resident evil even has a prominent DC address at this point.

Too bad most Christians can't seem to think as clearly anymore as most Muslims do, without the identity crisis not visiting the victim side.


Can't wait to hear or watch the various responses.


Fundies will tell them what's wrong with them before they'll go a step farther towards regarding Muslims as part of the human reality. They'll try the conversion method instead - to 'save' them, of course.

[slackmaster]

2. In before 130 Fatwas are issued

:sarcasm:

Recommended.

[xchrom]

3. recommend

[melm00se]

4. any body notice

that there was no mention of signatories from Iran or Saudi Arabia?

[Ian David]

7. Also no mention of peace with the Jews, either. n/t

[silverlib]

20. That is not true

The overture to Christians could be followed by similar letters addressed to Jews or secularists, he added.

[Ian David]

40. Thanks for clearing that up. n/t

[Cobalt Violet]

28. Nor atheists. n/t

[ohio2007]

35. nor those of the Hindu persuasion nt

[rayofreason]

42. For Islamic fundamentalists...

...Islam is God 3.0, Christianity is God 2.0, and Judaisim is God 1.0

But Hinduism is God 0.0

That will have to change if Islam is to reconcile with a powerful, high-tech, and increasingly wealthy Hindu-dominated state and civilization, that is still the country with the third largest number of Muslims in the world.

[AlecBGreen]

12. maybe they didnt list the nationalities

of every single signatory :shrug:

[melm00se]

13. if they didn't list them yet Iran and Saudi Arabia participated

it raises an interesting question as to why?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

24. They also didn't list the other Axis of Evil.

Were are the fatwas from Iceland, Suriname, and Peru? Fucking bastards.

[ohio2007]

36. You mean they prefer to remain "anonymous" out of fear ?

"undisclosed sources" could be considered as propaganda by some.

[silverlib]

19. Self delete - wrong place

[ohio2007]

33. Iran or Saudi Arabia? How about a little zionist dialogue

Why didn't the muslims include a letter to the head Budhist while we are talking.....

[Turbineguy]

5. Yeah, like

the "Christians" are interested!

Edited for quotation marks around Christians.

[monktonman]

6. Some "christians" will see this as a vailed threat.

The fundie mind is so frickin twisted that some will read this
and see it as some kind of threat.
"The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake..."
will be veiwed by some as a threat like,
"make nice with us or else"
Twisted minds indeed.

[azurnoir]

8. Good news K&R n/t

[Tempest]

9. Christians don't want peace with Muslims

Peace with Muslims means no war in the Middle East, which means no apocalypse, which means no second coming of Christ, which would prove the Bible is a work of fiction.

[robcon]

11. I think your simplistic thinking is a gross swipe at Christians , Tempest

Most Christians, like me, want the peace of Christ in the world. They would welcome peace with Muslims. And also Jews and Hindus and all religions.

This is positive news, and your response is disgusting, Tempest.

[ooglymoogly]

14. Truth is quite simple really....it is dishonesty that takes a complicated

crooked weaving and distortion of the facts into lies and propaganda.

[Tempest]

15. My response is based upon the most vocal of the Christian groups

The ones who want war in the Middle East to bring about the second coming.

You don't have to like it, but it's a fact.


Perhaps you should work on changing the factions within your own group before criticizing others.

[robcon]

18. That's not true, Tempest.

You've been very, very selective in NOT choosing the most vocal groups in Christianity...

The Pope, who's called for peace in the Middle East
Every major Christian sect is seeking peace in the Middle East.

You've carefully selected a few "political Christian groups" that represent radical thinking.

You've attacked a strawman, Tempest, and you're intellectually dishonest.

[Tempest]

23. You're obviously ignorant of those in your own group

The most vocal, and well funded Christian groups are those who preach the apocalypse. Those same groups are sending missionaries and lawyers to the Middle East to undermine the peace process with Palestine.

Find a copy of Bill Moyer's show on PBS from last week, watch it and then get back to us.


I find it interesting that you bring up the Pope, who is the head of the Catholic church which is seen at odds with Christians in most matters.

[ohio2007]

37. playing devils advocate with matters of religion

few muslims are without sin these days.
especially the ones wishing for "the madhi" to climb out of "the well"

[rayofreason]

21. How many...

...Christians are represented by such groups?

How many suicide bombers have such extreme Christian groups dispatched to the Middle East to blow up Muslims? How many snuff films have extreme Christian groups made and put out there to enccourage others?

Robcon is right on target. Consider your statement with an switch of words "Muslims don't want peace with Christians". Equal nonsense, even though the major source of the conflict is the Salafi Jihad movement - which the Muslim world now sees as a failure. Salafi Jihadis are not the core of Islam, and they need to be rejected. But to compare those folks, whose brutal headchopping ways are well documented, to wacko Christians who (for all their lunacy) are not perpetrating violence on a world-wide scale is not a very good comparison.

[regnaD kciN]

30. By that sort of "logic"...

...you could decide that "liberals" means the Shining Path guerrillas in Peru.

How would you like it if someone asserted that "liberalism believes in kidnapping and executing anyone who doesn't support overthrowing the government and imposing a Maoist regime?" :eyes:

[mallard]

47. Re: "and your response is disgusting, Tempest"

炬　當

[ooglymoogly]

17. and therein lies the problem.

The Christo fascist hypocrites who wear the cloak of Jeeeeeeeeeeeeeesusssssssu!!! to cover their evildoing will not like this turn of events at all and will have their talking heads out in force on corporate noise poisoning the airwaves.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

22. it means we cant war for oil as easily as we can now.

now we can paint them as a bunch of savages and justify any war.

[SyntaxError]

27. You're confusing Christians with fundie nuts...

It's similar to how some idiots like to lump all Muslims in the same group as Islamic Fundamentalists.

[spoony]

29. For fuck's sake

In a thread about PEACE you think, what exactly? Hey let me shit all over these good vibes with some hateful anti-Christian rhetoric?

Git.

[SteppingRazor]

10. Remember this the next time an angry right-winger demands to know why...

no centrist Muslim leaders have stepped forward to repudiate Islamic terrorists.

[rayofreason]

16. This could be any early step...

...towards the rejection of violent Jihad. It must begin at a theological level, then be adopted by the major schools, with multiple rulings rejecting the violent expansion of Islam.

Without that, Salafi Jihadis will continue to wreak havoc in the name of Islam, against the wishes of the large majority of Muslims. And there will be no peace.

[ohio2007]

38. ..to fatwas on the 130

Muslims Leaders Warn Pope 'Survival of World' at Stake



snip

Signatures include ;

Shaykh Sevki Omarbasic, Grand Mufti of Croatia,

Dr Abdul Hamid Othman, adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia

and Dr Ali Ozak, head of the endowment for Islamic scientific studies in Istanbul, Turkey.

They also include Shaykh Dr Nuh Ali Salman Al-Qudah, Grand Mufti of Jordan and

Shaykh Dr Ikrima Said Sabri, former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Imam of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.


http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=214_1192118091

hmmmm... any granted permission,by the "House of Saud", to sign as official reps from the magic kingdom HQ in Mekka ?

/sarc ;)

not really ;)

[winter999]

39. I want to agree with rayofreason...

I'd like to hope that this is the beginning of an Islamic Reformation to bring this great religion in line with the world community. However, a scene from Mars Attacks comes to mind where the aliens are shouting "Don't run! We come in peace" as they blast away.

[rayofreason]

41. Yep...

...I'm with you there. I prefer to be an optimist until confronted with evidence to the contrary. On the other hand, being an optimist does not mean you stick your hrad in the sand and sing "kumbaya".

[maxsolomon]

25. unitl this message is taught in the madrassas & mosques

it will have no effect whatsoever. and even then, it will take years for those who believe otherwise to stop jihad.

BOTH religions are deeply flawed & an obstacle to peace.

[PATRICK]

26. The word unprecedented

I am sure pertains to the scope and fervor of a message that itself is certainly not unprecedented, just not as dramatically urgent as today.

[regnaD kciN]

31. No kidding...

Christianity and Islam have co-existed peacefully for centuries. I'm not saying there haven't been periods of religious warfare, but most places in the world have Christians and Muslims living in the same communities, and getting along quite well.

[PATRICK]

44. My simple take

from various historical perspectives is that the Christians are by and large the most intolerant major faith- when in power. Muslim empires prefer cynical wisdom of offering tax breaks and public office(jobs) to believers. That of course gleans the morally weaker elements into the faith body but every religious power makes THAT mistake. The hard line they have taken is about evangelization. Even that was fairly OK in the periods when it gave Christians a swift path to cleansing martyrdom AND an excuse for- hoo-hah- righteous war for profit. Even the mutual bad stuff was a shared experience, something like free trade of
persecution.

But this is pure Hitler stuff now. Mass annihilation, total demonization and mass death from afar. Dividing humanity more than any religious issue into Sneetch warring suckers until their resources- and food- simply stops the possibility of stealing. Of mercantile glory. Of bankers' patriotism. Of hack pols "vision".

The point this "unprecedented" outreach misses is what and who has changed the old situation. A happy few, the rich the profiteering the spitefully destructive and stupid banal authors of all this danger. NAME them. Oppose them. Call them out, then talk about religious dialog. Suckers unite.

[damntexdem]

32. Unfortunately, it's generally only lip service that's given to the latter of these commandments:

"Islam and Christianity already agreed that love of God and neighbour were the two most important commandments of their faiths."

[ohio2007]

34. Maybe the Muslims come to "bury the hatchet" ... in somebody's

head by the end of the day.
/sarc

[hollowdweller]

43. I would like to see the Islamic leaders repudiate the idea of death if you convert away from Islam

[ronnie624]

45. I'd like to see Christian leaders

(ie: leaders of the United States and other Western countries), stop using their clandestine services and military forces, to topple governments and invade countries in order to dominate the politics, resources and economies of Muslim populated lands.

I think that would bring Christians much closer to peace with Muslims than anything else.