ISLAM IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE
I have been engaging publicly with Islam for over 30 years and have a noticed a recent change in the way it is discussed in public. The Bondi shooting, the war with Iran, and the ISIS brides have changed public discourse. Up until recently, a Muslim could commit an act of violence against a non-Muslim, say it was done in the name of Islam, and quote from the Qur’an for justification; but most Western leaders and media would respond by saying it had nothing to do with the religion and that Islam is a religion of peace. I hear this response a lot less often, if at all, now.
It seems that our culture has had enough time and experience to learn about Islam and has seen that its harsh treatment of women and hostility towards non-Muslims are in fact what the Qur’an, Hadith and Shariah teach. This information now floods the internet where it is carefully explained by those who are experienced in handling religious texts and history. As more people have searched and learned these things our society’s understanding of Islam has increased, and therefore, to deny what Islam teaches is just not plausible anymore.
In one sense this is good because it is the truth and allows people to better understand and respond to what is happening in the world around them. I have no desire for anyone to be naive about Islam. However, it does come with problems and dangers that we have to deal with. I can think of four:
Firstly, now that Western multicultural societies are realising that Islam does not intend to simply occupy ‘a place’ in society, but has a larger goal, what are these societies going to do? In the coming decades we are going to see different answers to this question.
Secondly, not everyone is going to respond with “love your enemy”. There are those in our society who are genuinely racist who will use this situation to stir up hatred for their political agenda. Their description of Islam will be true and will resonate with people’s concerns but their response will not be the Christian response. I appreciate the politicians and leaders who speak frankly about Islam and what it teaches, but Christians need to respond in a Christian way.
Thirdly, we may assume that what the Qur’an teaches is what all Muslims want to do. This is not the case. We must make a distinction between what the religion teaches and the individual Muslim before us. Love them and find out who they are.
Finally, the main role of the Church is to preach the gospel and make disciples, and not to focus on explaining and warning people about Islam. We do need to be clear about what Islam teaches and how it abuses our brothers and sisters in Islamic countries. In fact, many Muslims become Christian when they learn what Islam teaches and are repulsed by it. We do need to warn people and question Islamic leaders about these things. I have been doing this for 30 years, but I have also made sure that my focus is on loving Muslims and seeking to bring the gospel of salvation to them. Jesus said we are to love even our enemies and work for their salvation, and it is the gospel that gives us the power to do this because we have experienced the love of God for his enemies ourselves.
Our society does not have this power and so some will respond with hate, others with appeasement, others with avoidance, and others with censorship and misinformation, but for Christians, we can face the truth and respond in the way Jesus taught us. This is an area of Christian discipleship that we need to grow in just like we grow in other areas of the Christian life.
And so I want to encourage you, that as Islam becomes louder and louder in our culture, that you think carefully about responding in a Christian way.
– Sam Green