Our regular Muslim-Christian Dialogues have been on the back burner for a while now. We weren’t entirely sure whether they would be able to pick up again. Happily, last night, we had our first meeting in absolutely ages.
Given the nature of what is going on both local and more broadly culturally, it was suggested that we talk about our respective views of the nation. How do our respective religions view foreigners, should we be pushing for the privileging of our particular beliefs, how should we view nationalism and the nation itself more broadly?
As ever, our main goal is to try and convey something of the gospel in what we present. Time also limits us so that we can’t say everything we might want to say. We are further limited by time so we can’t necessarily nuance everything quite as much as we might like. We are trying to do a lot in a short space of time. But below are the slides that I presented and then talked around more broadly.
Thank you for this compelling presentation. It wasn’t just ‘those flag waving people are nasty racists’ but gave the positive, Biblical alternative.
Thanks for sharing! I’d be fascinated to know what the Muslim perspective on this issue is…
The Muslim view as presented in the room was that ethno-nationalism was bad and fundamentally racist.
What was not addressed very clearly (as I judge it) were:
1. Where the Qur’an gives any support to that position (a few texts were cited but little was given in support)
2. The interplay between the Qur’an and enforcing its ethics at a national level (particularly where there is a Muslim majority)
What we often find in our discussions is some cognitive dissonance between the Qur’an, the beliefs of those in the room and their practice.
Deeply interesting! The response from your Muslim neighbours perhaps reflects a lack of nuance in how they view their scriptures… Possibly because it was all written with one voice at one time, whilst the Bible offers many, some in opposition to each other (e.g. Are kings A Good Thing or not? The books of Kings, Judges and the prophets would disagree…) but all guided by the Holy Spirit. They have have less legroom for different interpretations.