Interfaith dialogue: the curse of our time.
NASHVILLE — It sounds like the start of a joke: a rabbi, a minister and a Muslim sheik walk into a restaurant.
But there they were, Rabbi Ted Falcon, the Rev. Don Mackenzie and Sheik Jamal Rahman, walking into an Indian restaurant, and afterward a Presbyterian church. The sanctuary was full of 250 people who came to hear them talk about how they had wrestled with their religious differences and emerged as friends.
They call themselves the “interfaith amigos.” And while they do sometimes seem more like a stand-up comedy team than a trio of clergymen, they know they have a serious burden in making a case for interfaith understanding in a country reeling after a Muslim Army officer at Fort Hood, Tex., was charged with opening fire on his fellow soldiers, killing 13.
The room then grew quiet as each stood and recited what he regarded as the “untruths” in his own faith. The minister said that one “untruth” for him was that “Christianity is the only way to God.” The rabbi said for him it was the notion of Jews as “the chosen people.” And the sheik said for him it was the “sword verses” in the Koran, like “kill the unbeliever.”
“It is a verse taken out of context,” Sheik Rahman said, pointing out that the previous verse says that God has no love for aggressors. “But we have to acknowledge that ‘kill the unbelievers’ is an awkward verse,’ ” the sheik said as the crowd laughed. “Some verses are literal, some are metaphorical, but the Koran doesn’t say which is which.”
Here’s the problem: when Christians take the bible at face value (Rev. Don Mackenzie doesn’t) they run around trying to convert people because they believe that Christ is the only way to God the Father (Rev. Don Mackenzie is embarrassed by this). When Muslims take the Koran at face value they run around killing non-Muslims. Notice any difference?
Billy Graham has preached the same message for more than 50 years, that there is only one way to God and that is throught Jesus. Jesus himself told us His words will never pass away, I am the Way the Truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father but by Him. Countless millions have believed these words and have come out of the darkness and into the light. Don Mackenzie has found enlightment in the wisdom of his own thinking. The reason why the Church has lost its way in North America is because it is filled with Priests who are full of themselves, and not the Spirit of God. They make a God who fits their image and then convince others to worship their version of God. If Jesus had only understood what they know, He could have skipped the cross and told them to take the other road. It would have been a lot less painful for Him. In North America they usually make Priests like Don into Bishops.