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ForLibertyFight
10-11-2007, 09:39 PM
LONDON (Reuters) - More than 130 Muslim scholars from around the globe called on Thursday for peace and understanding between Islam and Christianity, saying "the very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake."

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In an unprecedented letter to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders, 138 Muslim scholars said finding common ground between the world's biggest faiths was not simply a matter for polite dialogue between religious leaders.

"If Muslims and Christians are not at peace, the world cannot be at peace. With the terrible weaponry of the modern world; with Muslims and Christians intertwined everywhere as never before, no side can unilaterally win a conflict between more than half of the world's inhabitants," the scholars wrote.

"Our common future is at stake. The very survival of the world itself is perhaps at stake," they wrote, adding that Islam and Christianity already agreed that love of God and neighbor were the two most important commandments of their faiths.

Relations between Muslims and Christians have been strained as al Qaeda has struck around the world and as the United States and other Western countries intervened in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Such a joint letter is unprecedented in Islam, which has no central authority that speaks on behalf of all worshippers.

The list of signatories includes senior figures throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. They represent Sunni, Shi'ite and Sufi schools of Islam.

Among them were the grand muftis of Egypt, Palestine, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Bosnia and Russia and many imams and scholars. War-torn Iraq was represented by both Shi'ites and Sunnis.

Mustafa Cagrici, the mufti who prayed with Benedict in Istanbul's Blue Mosque last year, was also on the list, as was the popular Egyptian television preacher Amr Khaled.

"MAINSTREAM VOICES DROWNED OUT"

The letter was addressed to the Pope, leaders of Orthodox Christian churches, Anglican leader Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and the heads of the world alliances of the Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist and Reformed churches.

Williams said he welcomed it as "indicative of the kind of relationship for which we yearn in all parts of the world."

"The call to respect, peace and goodwill should now be taken up by Christians and Muslims at all levels and in all countries," he said.

A Vatican official in Rome said the Roman Catholic Church would not comment until it had time to read the letter.

Aref Ali Nayed, one of the signatories and a senior adviser to the Cambridge Interfaith Program at Cambridge University in Britain, said the signatories represented the "99.9 percent of Muslims" who follow mainstream schools and oppose extremism.

"In Islam we have had a problem for some time now where the mainstream voices are drowned out by a minority that choose violence," he said.

Nayed said organizers of the letter had set up an ad hoc network among Muslim leaders that could lead to more cooperation in future.

"These people don't take their signatures lightly," he said. "We are trying to institutionalize this so we don't lose it."

The overture to Christians could be followed by similar letters addressed to Jews or secularists, he added.

Pope Benedict sparked Muslim protests last year with a speech hinting Islam was violent and irrational. It prompted 38 Muslim scholars to write a letter challenging his view of Islam and accepting his call for serious Christian-Muslim dialogue.

Benedict repeatedly expressed regret for the reaction to the speech, but stopped short of a clear apology sought by Muslims.

The new letter argues in theological terms, giving quotes from the Koran and the Bible that show both Christianity and Islam considered love of God as their greatest commandment and love of neighbor as the second greatest.

"The basis for this peace and understanding already exists," it said. "It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the one God and love of the neighbor."



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071011/ts_nm/religion_scholars_dc;_ylt=ArPOKh_owEXFvNz98tsIY0Cs 0NUE


This is the second time this month I've been amazed in a pleasant way by news of human relations in our world. Could it be that someone else out there actually cares if there's still a world left in 20 years?

Perry
10-11-2007, 09:56 PM
Even without counting on my fingers i know that it's going to take more then 130 muslims for peace to work.

Corydoras
10-11-2007, 10:04 PM
If people would actually just pay attention to what things really are like in the Middle East, they would know that Yugoslavia was a real exception. In the Middle East, there are plenty of Christians and Muslims in mixed marriages, like Mr. & Mrs. Yasser Arafat were.

The so-called "clash of civilizations" is not between Islam and Christianity, but Islam and the West.

winston84
10-12-2007, 03:55 AM
130 fake Muslims are not going to change anything. How about treating other people as you would expect to be treated. Oh wait, the golden rule is no where to be found in the koran.

http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/BrianMacker51014.htm

Spirit of '76
10-12-2007, 05:21 AM
130 fake Muslims

:confused:

Adamsa
10-12-2007, 08:06 AM
130 fake Muslims are not going to change anything. How about treating other people as you would expect to be treated. Oh wait, the golden rule is no where to be found in the koran.

http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/BrianMacker51014.htm

Wow...

Mortikhi
10-12-2007, 08:22 AM
I had a Muslim neighbor once. He made great lamb shishkeebobs and his wife made great bread.

She had a nice ass, too, but I wasn't gonna voice my opinion. There was no way I was going to disrupt the flow of free lamb keebobs and bread!

torchbearer
10-12-2007, 08:29 AM
I think this dispels the whole fear the current administration is propagating that the Muslims of the world won't be happy until all non-Muslims are converted or dead... which is BS.

Wendi
10-12-2007, 08:53 AM
It's a start in the right direction, and we should respect that. But, we also can't ignore the fact that the vast majority of Muslims have *not* spoken out against the violence being done in their name - *or* the fact that it is really only a relative few who are actually doing it. Complicated issue; no easy answers.

Mortikhi
10-12-2007, 08:54 AM
It's a start in the right direction, and we should respect that. But, we also can't ignore the fact that the vast majority of Muslims have *not* spoken out against the violence being done in their name - *or* the fact that it is really only a relative few who are actually doing it. Complicated issue; no easy answers.
Either they aren't speaking out against the violence, or they have and it's not making the news.

torchbearer
10-12-2007, 08:59 AM
it's not making the news.


Yeh- that part.

Nefertiti
10-12-2007, 09:05 AM
It's a start in the right direction, and we should respect that. But, we also can't ignore the fact that the vast majority of Muslims have *not* spoken out against the violence being done in their name - *or* the fact that it is really only a relative few who are actually doing it. Complicated issue; no easy answers.

I'm an individual as is anyone who commits violence, so why am I required to speak out just because someone who is violent shares my religion? That's collectivism.

I will speak out against violence by Muslims because it is wrong. Just like I will speak out against child molestation by Catholic priests and gay behavior in men's rooms by Protestants. Because it is wrong. Not because I have or don't have some sort of shared attribute with the wrongdoer. What about you?

Omnis
10-12-2007, 09:17 AM
I'm an individual as is anyone who commits violence, so why am I required to speak out just because someone who is violent shares my religion? That's collectivism.

I will speak out against violence by Muslims because it is wrong. Just like I will speak out against child molestation by Catholic priests and gay behavior in men's rooms by Protestants. Because it is wrong. Not because I have or don't have some sort of shared attribute with the wrongdoer. What about you?

Right on.

erowe1
10-12-2007, 09:28 AM
I'd say if Muslims, as in all Muslims, really want peace with Christians, then the ball is definitely in their court. The crusades ended 7 centuries ago, but the Jihad against all "infidels" continues.

torchbearer
10-12-2007, 09:39 AM
I'd say if Muslims, as in all Muslims, really want peace with Christians, then the ball is definitely in their court. The crusades ended 7 centuries ago, but the Jihad against all "infidels" continues.

Where did you get that information?

erowe1
10-12-2007, 09:41 AM
Where did you get that information?

Which part?

Nefertiti
10-12-2007, 09:44 AM
OK, I'll send you a ball. We want peace, so please get your Christian troops off our Muslim courts so we don't have to keep defending ourselves against your incursions into our court. Did you ever see Andre Agassi or John MacEnroe or Venus Williams jump over the net to the other side? Learn how to play the game.

torchbearer
10-12-2007, 09:50 AM
Which part?

That ALL Muslims are participating in a jihad against infidels.

erowe1
10-12-2007, 10:11 AM
That ALL Muslims are participating in a jihad against infidels.

Could you provide the quote where I say "ALL Muslims are participating in a jihad against infidels"? [emphasis yours].

erowe1
10-12-2007, 10:12 AM
OK, I'll send you a ball. We want peace, so please get your Christian troops off our Muslim courts so we don't have to keep defending ourselves against your incursions into our court. Did you ever see Andre Agassi or John MacEnroe or Venus Williams jump over the net to the other side? Learn how to play the game.

What Christian troops?

Nefertiti
10-12-2007, 10:41 AM
What Muslim terrorists?

erowe1
10-12-2007, 10:42 AM
What Muslim terrorists?

I must have missed something. Who mentioned terrorists?

Nefertiti
10-12-2007, 10:48 AM
You know what, I'm done with this thread. I don't have to answer, apologize for or explain anyone else's behavior other than my own. And since I've never been in any military or blown anything up, this thread is totally irrelevant to me.