http://mormonstories.org/imam-jamal-rah ... ive-islam/
This was a fascinating listen, by the way. For those who aren't very familiar with different interpretations of Islam, I highly recommend it.
About an hour in he starts to address some questions from John about whether Muslims view their God as the correct God, or their religion as the correct religion. I really liked Imam Jamal's responses.
When asked, "Do you view Islam as the way?" He says, “No. Absolutely not.” He alludes to the idea that we are often born into a religion, and we become familiar with that religion, and if that works for us, that’s great. Interfaith is not about conversion, it’s about completion. Or in other words, proselytizing is not about converting one to your religious perspective, its about working to achieve unity among all of us and to become better human beings.
One thing that struck me the most was that he mentioned we (the religious organizations of the world) need to start establishing an accepted, interfaith "ethics of proselytizing." To me as a Mormon this means there's no need to say to someone, "Come over to my way of climbing the mountain" when I notice that someone is climbing the mountain just fine in their own way.
I love the idea, but is it even realistic to think that the leaders of the world's religions could foster that much acceptance?
Establishing an "Ethics of Proselytizing"?
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Establishing an "Ethics of Proselytizing"?
"So oft in theologic wars / The disputants, I ween, / Rail on in utter ignorance / Of what each other mean / And prate about an Elephant / Not one of them has seen." -- from "The Blind Men and the Elephant" by John Godfrey Saxe
"The faith that stands on authority is not faith. The reliance on authority measures the decline of religion, the withdrawal of the soul." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
My ongoing story: http://precariousironrod.com/
"The faith that stands on authority is not faith. The reliance on authority measures the decline of religion, the withdrawal of the soul." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
My ongoing story: http://precariousironrod.com/
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Re: Establishing an "Ethics of Proselytizing"?
is it even realistic to think that the leaders of the world's religions could foster that much acceptance?
Probably not, honestly - and it's not consistent with what much of his own religion fosters, either. It has to be internalized personally.
I see through my glass, darkly - as I play my saxophone in harmony with the other instruments in God's orchestra. (h/t Elder Joseph Wirthlin)
Even if people view many things differently, the core Gospel principles (LOVE; belief in the unseen but hoped; self-reflective change; symbolic cleansing; striving to recognize the will of the divine; never giving up) are universal.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." H. L. Mencken
Even if people view many things differently, the core Gospel principles (LOVE; belief in the unseen but hoped; self-reflective change; symbolic cleansing; striving to recognize the will of the divine; never giving up) are universal.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." H. L. Mencken