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| Olde Tyme Religion | |
| US Jordanian priest OK's preaching to Muslims | |
| 2008-12-11 | |
| According to an American preacher of Jordanian origin, Christians have just as much right to preach to Muslims as Muslims have to preaching Christians, adding that he does not like the idea of interfaith dialogue and instead calls for a freedom of religion dialogue. Reverend Emile Haddad, president and founder of the Ambassadors of Peace, an interfaith organization based in the U.S. stressed the "right of the Christian to preach his religion to his fellow Muslim and the right of the Muslim to do the same" in an interview with the TV program Ida'at (Illuminations) broadcasted weekly on AlArabiya news channel.
Haddad further added that the idea of interfaith dialogue on its own does not yield definitive results and that the right to preach one's religion unhampered is the only guarantee for religions to coexist despite the engrained doctrinal differences between all three Abrahamic religions, such as the status of Jesus Christ in Islam and Christianity. But Egyptian Sheikh Yusuf al Badri disagrees with Reverend Haddad. The Sheikh claims that Christian evangelism is more than a dialogue and aims to tempt non-Christians into Christianity through humanitarian means. "Evangelism is certainly not a straight forward process. In the Muslim world Evangelism has always targeted the poor, providing them with humanitarian aid for the purposes of changing their religion. The proof of this is the religion classes that are given along with food and shelter." The Sheikh also said that the spread of Islam in the West is not due to evangelism or active preaching on part of Muslims but of public interest in Islam "Muslims vilify neither Christianity nor Judaism, yet the West vilifies Islam. This creates interest in the religion and you find non-Muslims eager to know what Islam is about. When a Muslim is asked about his faith, he will obviously respond and provide information." | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 In the Muslim world Evangelism has always targeted the poor, providing them with humanitarian aid for the purposes of changing their religion. Ya mean Evangelists don't threaten to cut your head off if you don't convert their religion like the Muslims do? Gosh, that's terrible. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-12-11 15:23 |
| #2 In the Muslim world only the Muslims have the right to inform others about their faith. For Christians or Jews to do the same is either to break the law or break custom so long established it may as well be the law. Thank goodness Reverend Haddad lives safely in the U.S., where no doubt he acquired such a radical idea. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-12-11 08:38 |
| #1 The rights of Christians to preach to Muslims have traditionally been nullified by the Muslim custom of killing infidel proselytizers and those they might convert, aka "apostates" in Muslim terminology. Evangelization has never been considered by Muslims as anything else but an attack on their religion. Ignore that elephant under the carpet. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2008-12-11 07:17 |