Calls for tolerance untenable for some
A belief that other faiths are not legitimate prompts some Christians
to support blocking a Muslim speaker
JILL SMITH
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1084190361254120..xml
The removal of Muslim speaker Shahriar Ahmed from the program of the
Mayors' Prayer Breakfast of Washington County spurred a call from many
in the county's religious community for religious tolerance.
But for a large group of conservative Christians, tolerance is simply
intolerable if it means saying other religions are legitimate paths to
God. For them, belief in Jesus as the son of God is the only way to
heaven.
Clark Tanner, pastor at Beaverton Christian Church, and millions of
other Christians say they believe Muslims and other non-Christians
will go to hell after death -- not because they are bad people, but
because they have not accepted Jesus as their savior.
"The only thing I can say is what the Bible says," Tanner says. " 'I
am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father,
but through me.' "
Bruce Miller, one of the few breakfast committee members to support
keeping Ahmed on the program, says organizers were concerned that the
Muslim leader's inclusion might send the message that Islam is an
acceptable path to God.
Ed Forsythe, pastor of Christian Praise Center, a Full Gospel church
in Cornelius, says the Bible tells Christians to "teach against" other
religions.
It has nothing to do with hate, says Tanner, whose passion is bringing
nonbelievers to Christ: "I love those people as individuals. I'm
concerned about them."
People can interpret holy texts many different ways, says Greg Allen,
Jesuit High School's religion department chairman. He notes that Jesus
also says people will enter heaven because they fed, clothed and cared
for others in need -- a salvation connected to action and compassion,
not a specific belief.
The respected Christian author C.S. Lewis suggests that nonbelievers
will get into heaven if their actions are Christian in nature.
But in every religion, including Islam and Judaism, there will be
conservatives saying, "Our way is the only way," Allen says.
Diane Dulin, pastor of First Congregational Church United Church of
Christ in Hillsboro, agrees. Dulin says she knows many Christians who
feel closer to liberal believers of other faiths than to conservative
believers of their own faith.
Dulin, who says she believes all people will enter heaven, was
exasperated and hurt by Ahmed's exclusion from the breakfast. It is
the reason, Dulin says, she participated in a news conference last
week calling for religious tolerance. It also is why Dulin feels the
need for outreach and reconciliation with more conservative members of
her faith.
"I hope we can somehow create a meeting time or forum or just a lunch
table where we can actually come together with the people who were
sponsoring this breakfast," she says. "My desire is to minimize that
chasm."
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