One issue that I haven't seen (which isn't saying much since I am embarrassingly ignorant of current events) addressed in the mainstream media is the effect that the war in Iraq has on the Christians of that region. I recently listened to a podcast (posted on April 25th) that speaks to this potentially volatile subject and seems to deal with it in a mature fashion that avoids demonization.
I have a friend who has addressed the issue of engagement with those who are regularly outside the boundaries of our daily comfortable existence, particularly in areas partially related to this issue. This podcast offers several concrete examples of what such an incarnational engagement might "look like" which I found to be helpful.
4 comments:
I enjoyed the podcast and I agree, it seemed quite well-balanced. Sarah has done quite a bit to track situations like these in her work for the Anglican Communion/NIFCON (Google NIFCON for more info.) and tries to do so in a non-'Christian persecution watch' sort of way. This is how the podcast struck me.
I like the interviewees effort to make the matter one of 'extremist vs. moderate' as opposed to Christian vs. Muslim and I appreciate the sentiment behind that effort. I think 'moderate' might be problematic though. I really like her comment on American vs. European media.
A hot topic . . . lot's to say on both the matter of indigenous Christianity in the Middle East and conflict there too. Good podcast.
Could you expand on how "moderate" might be problematic? I'm not asking this question to spur a debate, I'm just curious and would like to know more about your take on this subject.
Well, first of all, I hope my comment doesn't detract from how much I appreciated the podcast. That said, I can't speak for the interviewee, but when many people use moderate (especially in reference to Muslims) they really mean 'Muslims more like us', 'Muslims who think like we do'. What is moderate? Do we mean religiously moderate? Politically moderate? Socially moderate? Can a religionist be fundamental (or to the left of moderate) in his/her beliefs and remain distant from extremism, militant or otherwise. I think so. I think, therefore, it might be more helpful to say 'extremist vs. non-extremist'.
No worries, I asked you for your opinion, so it isn't unsolicited. That being said, your clarification of terms makes sense.
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