“In the course of the last few days I’ve witnessed in my own social media feeds comments made toward Muslims that would be considered hate speech and threats if such comments were directed at us. Constant fear-baiting by Christian pastors, calling Islam “evil”, saying “Muslims are the enemy of God” and all sorts of other anti-Muslim comments. If this trend does not change, the outcome is bleak. If we’re told over and over again that we are enemies there becomes a distrust and hostility that results in self-fulfilling prophesies – enemies are born, wars arise, and great suffering results. Continue down that line far enough and our children won’t even know why they are enemies to begin with – they’ll just know to hate and mistrust Muslims, and they will learn the same of us.

Sadly, I’m not seeing religious leaders on the Christian side put forth a Christian narrative for how we are to walk this road in our current culture. In fact, what I too often see Christian leaders doing is pushing a narrative that only serves to inflame and divide us … What our culture needs more than ever is people who are modeling their lives after Jesus of Nazareth (peace be upon him) instead of operating under the current narrative of hostility that too many Christian leaders are inviting us into. If the world is going to change, it will only be because you and I choose to act – now.” ~ Benjamin L. Corey

May we all have the Courage to become small-yet-significant solutions to the problem of violence, instead of inadvertent agents thereof … How can we do so? Here are a few ideas from Benjamin to help you get started:

*Learn how to greet Muslims in Arabic, and when you pass them on the street smile and say hello with the proper greeting (which actually means “peace be upon you”). There’s plenty of Youtube videos to teach you how.

*Find Muslim families in your neighborhood and introduce yourself. Ask if you can do something nice for them, just as neighbors and no strings attached. Help them with a project on their home, help them with yard work, or invite them to share a coffee or out for a vegan dinner.

*Find a Muslim and sit and learn from them. Discover what they truly believe– you might be surprised at all the areas of commonality between Christianity and Islam – two members of the Abrahamic faith.

*Is their a Muslim community center in your area? Go by for a visit and ask if there are any areas where you could volunteer and serve the Muslim community.

*Financially support a charity geared towards serving the Muslim community. Don’t know of one? I can help: There is a great organization in my own community called The Root Cellar (link in the comment box below), and they are a community center in an impoverished area serving Muslim refugees. They provide a safe place for kids to go after school, and all sorts of other great stuff. No donation would be too small, and you can even make it online.

Peace to ALL — today evermore … S

Filed under: Questions for Christians by Scaughdt