In the wake of Muslim rioting sparked by cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that appeared n Euopean newspapers, and as an antitdote to some of the polarizing rhetoric we’ve been hearing since the riots began, I thought it would be worth highlighting some of the productive interfaith work that has taken place here in my own backyard.
My boss, Bishop John Chane, appears regularly on panels with Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig of the Washington Hebrew Congregation and Akbar Ahmed, a former Pakistaini diplomant who is Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at American University. Here is a bit of an introduction to some of their work, which included appearances on C-Span, and a unity walk down Embassy Row here in D. C.
The bishop, Prof. Ahmed and Prof. Judea Pearl, whose son Daniel, a Wall Street Journal reporter, was murdered by terrorists in Pakistan, also participated in an online interfaith conversation following the London bombings last July. You can find it on Beliefnet.
I also recommend this sermon by Bishop Ted Eastman, who served, just before retirement, as Bishop Chane’s vicar at Washington National Cathedral.
Virginia Theological Seminary recently hosted a lecture called “How to Speak to your Muslim Neighbor”, and we hope to have the story on that event from our diocesan newspaper Washington Window online soon.
Imams and Islamic scholars have participated in almost every major event held at Washington National Cathedral in recent years, including the installation of the Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, as dean of the cathedral, and “Hunger No More,” an interfaith service sponosred in conjunction with Bread for the World to draw attention to issues of global poverty.
We don’t share the notion, experessed in some places, that Islam is the enemy of the cross.