Recently here in Seattle an event that has caused quite a stir is the news that Episcopal Priestess Ann Holmes Redding is both a practicing Muslim and a Christian. Hmmmm.
The linked article provides some commentary from scholars who agree and disagree with her position. There is part of me that finds this sort of inter-faith (interpersonal interfaith?) stance appealing. Perhaps it could be seen as an attempt to "solve" or "reconcile" some of the horrifying violence and atrocities comitted by Christians and Muslims against one another the past 1400 years. Mutual forgiveness and dialogue is certainly needed and important.
But if Redding's aim to be a Christian and Muslim is a (sub)conscious attempt at reconciliation (I'm not sure that it is) does it truly acheive that? What does it acheive? What does it say about Christianity?
9 comments:
I have typed several comments, but deleted all of them. There is just too much to say concerning Holmes' approach and each time I try to formulate a concise comment . . . blah.
Chuck, I'd love to hear anything you had to say - consise or not. Enlighten me. C'mon, I told you about praying to saints.
Fine . . .
I am submitted to God and as such fulfill the literal linguistic meaning of "muslim", but to say that that makes me a Muslim is a joke and disrespectful to Muslims (I know Holmes prays everyday she won't bring shame to any community). It also shatters any real sense of Muslim community (umma) in a community that is already struggling to define itself in new ways. It seems that Holmes' act is ultimately selfish. Judging from her own Christian theology (as summarized in the article), it seems that she has shaped God in her own image in order to meet her concerns. She has been moved by portions of Islam, which means she respects it, and therefore has sought to incorporate elements of it - those which she appreciates. So, she calls herself a Muslim. Does she understand what saying her shahada means? Fully? I think her Islamic theology, similarly, is therefore shaping Islam to her own needs and ultimately shameful to Muslims. Her Christian theology (anti-Trinitarian [it's a symbol]; Christ was not divine) accommodates portions of how Muslims view God and an Islamic view of Christ - what will she do when she must confront aspects of Islam which she may find distasteful? Will she choose to simply carve those aspects out of Islam?
As a model for inter-faith efforts, she forces Christians, on the one hand, to abandon central portions of their faith and Muslims, on the other, to abandon central portions of theirs all so the two can be together, or at least, so the two can be represented in her own life. This is so selfish and arrogant and it bothers me at how detrimental it is to the coming together of the two faiths.
It is interesting to note that she has, in my opinion, meshed two malformed images together in order to create something meaningful to her. From the article, it seems that the Muslim women she prays with are accepting of her. That's very gracious of them, but I wonder what their response would be if Holmes expected the same approach from them?
In the end, I am embarrassed that I will most likely have to answer questions about this before my Muslim friends and colleagues here where I live and will undoubtedly take more flack for American ignorance and arrogance (which itself is often ignorant and arrogant, but it will unfortunately fit in this case).
Chuck:
"Holmes' approach is actually being done in large numbers in the Majority World. In these cases, Muslims are altering their spiritual path ever so slightly in order to make Christ their center of worship. In so doing, however, they continue to worship him as Muslims (you probably know all about this, but whatever). Missiologically, people have called this different things and people come down on all sides of the fence. When we worked at Gordon-Conwell, we met with a group to show them a dvd about such a movement. This one was in Pakistan and Muslims were, ironically, hearing about Christ for the first time through just such a movement and began meeting in their homes in order to learn about and worship Christ. They carried on as Muslims in every other way. Various missionaries who produced the dvd were in support of the movement and were attempting to duplicate it elsewhere. Some people thought this was great and ground-breaking. Others thought it was the most horrible thing in the world. This angered me because I felt that those who were opposed to it were so close-minded that they could not see anything beyond what their own New England church looked like (this coming from various profs. too). True, there were perhaps theological/ecclesiological issues to be dealt with, but how could we deny what Christ was doing here.? Surely, this was a unique part of a process that was valid. I applaud it in many ways, though I would say it probably can't be a stopping point.
One reason for this is how do such groups, as part of the body of Christ, identify with the greater body of Christ? If things end here, are there not gaps in our ecclesiology? On the other side, Muslims themselves are very suspicious of movements like this and it ultimately represents a 5th column to them."
There are so many things about so many religions and cultures that scream God's (YHWH) name. It would be narrow-minded to say that Christian tradition solely incorporates all of who God is. Although I'm definitely not learned enough on Islam, if the prayers and such point her towards depth and relationship with God, then great. But if these things deny and/or exclude the deity of Jesus, I don't think she could use the label "Christian" anymore.
Oh, and on behalf of... eh, maybe 70% of the females in the United States: thanks for shaving the 'stache. One of my housemates has been growing one for a couple months now, which has inspired at least 3 other guys in our circle of friends to join in, much to my dismay. Not that I didn't just let a little kid draw one on me w/ a teal magic marker yesterday, cause I did. I can't explain the hypocrisy- Lord, have mercy.
Hey JB, it's Arielle, formerly of St. Paul's (although it will always be my home!) I think I wandered here through Jeremy's site.
I posted about this on my blog as well, if you're interested.
Hmmmm, I guess that didn't give me my blog address, did it?
http://ariellejuliana.livejournal.com
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