A few weeks ago I spotted a small story in the newspaper about an imam in Lebanon issuing a fatwa banning so-called honour killings—the murder of a close female relative by a male for an alleged sexual crime.
Lebanon's most senior Shiite cleric rightly called it a “repulsive act” noting that the murderers almost always get away with it. It was disappointing to see a courageous story about a culture-challenging Muslim leader get so little play at a time when negative stories about Muslims get a big headlines.
The blame for this does not lie exclusively with media but with all of us who fail to condemn the almost daily slurs against the world's second-largest faith group. What we should be doing is supporting and encouraging moderate Muslims.
This shows how important General Assembly's action was this summer in broadening the mandate of the ecumenical and interfaith committee to include interfaith dialogue and promoting educational programs in the church about other faiths.
Assembly was also addressed by Toronto imam Dr. Hamid Slimi, who chairs the Canadian Council of Imams. In introducing Slimi to assembly, Rev. Will Ingram noted that interfaith dialogue doesn't mean glossing over important differences in belief, since there is no integrity in that.
What it does mean is discovering what religions actually teach and what is culture disguised as religion. It is no different in that sense than any other dialogue with someone or some group that is different than you or the group you belong to.
This month's cover story focuses on Afghanistan. You have probably read in papers and magazines and watched on television more about Afghanistan than you think you want to know. But I urge you to read Andrew Faiz's story carefully. This is a story about the beleaguered inhabitants and the people who are helping them to repair their country.
It is really a story about your faith in action, since your donations go to support vital church-sponsored development work.
It is also, as Andrew also notes in his pop culture column, about Jesus' command that we offer those in need a “cup of water;” hospitality by any other name.
In the Middle and Near East, hospitality has an enormous place in the culture. In dry, dusty places, a footbath is welcome at the end of a journey, as the Gospels record it was for Jesus. Today, you also get a cup of tea.
But hospitality is more than that there. It means protecting the life of your guest at the expense of your own if need be. What is truly ironic is that the Latin roots of the word (hostis and pa = hospes) mean feeding the stranger, not hosting your friends at a dinner party.
What assembly endorsed then was really an extension of hospitality to those who are different than we are; those who hold different beliefs than we do. At a time when some people publish dubious theories about a clash of civilizations, it is especially important for those of us in the majority culture to welcome and support moderates of other cultures.
Fear drives people of all cultures into their own huddle and to emphasize what marks them as different from others. Assembly has called the church to do the opposite: while never forsaking our faith, to welcome those that are different into our midst to seek “peace, love and understanding,” as the song puts it.
As Jesus taught, a cup of water—a little hospitality—goes a long way.
