We Can Refuse To Be Enemies

Last updated on: June 9, 2014 at 3:21 pm by Brian McLaren

We Can Refuse To Be Enemies 2014-06-09T15:21:25-04:00 Brian McLaren

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We can refuse to be silent.

We can refuse double standards.

We can refuse to be enemies.

From my piece on TIME.com:

Many of us have avoided facing the unsettling understanding that religious identity can be turned to violent ends in any religion: Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist. To understand religious violence will require us to understand others’ violence, and our own; then demand that our faith leaders set the example of building strong identities that are benevolent, not hostile, toward others.Along with decrying violence in the name of religion, we can celebrate the heroic acts of kindness and solidarity of more “normative” people of faith like the Egyptian Christians who’ve protected mosques and the Egyptian Muslims who’ve protected churches on many occasions over the last few years.

We Christians cannot remain silent about the horrific violence against Christians around the world. But to respond in ways that intensify fear, hatred and mistrust will never move us beyond global religious hostility. We must be vocal advocates for the rights of all religious minorities — from Texas to Tehran, from Nashville to Nigeria.

For more on this subject, see
Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? and
We Make the Road by Walking

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