Religion in America

Two of the most frustrating recent topics on talk radio have been the risk of trusting Muslims and the United States as a Christian nation. With regard to Islam, callers and hosts alike have ignored or rejected the wide range of differences among Muslims, asserting that all Muslims are alike and are our enemies. 

A guest on one local show warned that any Muslim who seems friendly is, in fact, simply awaiting a chance to overpower us. If the speaker knows or has ever had a conversation with a Muslim, it certainly was not one of those I count among my friends. Such accusations can, in fact, create a previously nonexistent hostility. Certainly, there are and always have been Muslims who believe that violence is acceptable for the spread of Islam. But there also have been Christians who participated in the murder of Jews and Muslims either for refusing to convert or simply for being who they were. 

There are numerous examples of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Europe and Asia living together in peace and friendship until intruders set the groups against each other. Ironically, on such occasions Muslims and Jews frequently reacted peacefully against their Christian attackers, a response for which the New Testament calls from a Christian under persecution. Among all three of these religions there are violent groups, and peaceful groups and we forget that at the cost of our own humanity.

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