For the Common Good by Brian Zahnd

For the Common Good

posted by Brian Zahnd on June 14, 2010 at 5:50 PM

I have drafted a statement which explains the friendship and cooperation I have with Ahmed El-Sherif (an Arab-American Muslim) and Samuel Nachum (an Israeli-American Jew) as we work together in the Let The Children Play for Peace project. It goes like this:

For the Common Good

We are Jews, Christians and Muslims.
And we are friends.
We seek to follow our respective religions faithfully.
We do not believe all religions are the same.
We recognize the reality of our religious differences.
But we are friends.
We are devout in our faith and respectful of our friendship.
Our faith and friendship need not be mutually exclusive.
We recognize that we share common space—the common space of a shared planet.
For the sake of the common good we seek common ground.
We do not share a common faith, but we share a common humanity.
In our different religions we do not practice the same rituals or pray the same prayers.
But in our shared humanity we hold to a common dream: Shalom, Salaam, Peace.
We hold to the dream that our children may play in peace without fear of violence.
And so...
We pledge not to hate.
We pledge not to dehumanize others.
We pledge to do no harm in the name of God.
As individuals we do not compromise the truth claims of our respective religions—
But we will not use truth claims to fuel hate or justify violence.
We will practice our respective faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam.
But we believe our faith can be practiced in the way of peace—
We believe our faith truly practiced need never be at odds with humanitarian ideals.
Our religions share a complex and intertwined history—
A history of interaction that has too often been tumultuous and bloody.
We believe there must be a better way and we seek that better way.
The way of peace.
We are Jews, Christians and Muslims.
And we are friends.
We seek common ground for the common good.
Shalom, Salaam, Peace.

Ahmed El-Sherif
Samuel Nachum
Brian Zahnd

I think it is a good statement. A step in the right direction. And if asked: Are you implying a concession to not proselytize in exchange for coexistence? This is my reply:

My statement does not preclude evangelizing Muslims and Jews; it precludes endorsing hatred and violence in the name of Christ. I confess Jesus is Lord. I believe in proclaiming the gospel. I am for sharing the gospel with everyone, including Muslims. But Christianity and Islam have been coexisting for 1,400 years and today there are 1.3 billion Muslims in the world. In a world that has suffered deeply from religiously inspired violence we must find a way to live together in peace. Ultimately I will argue that peaceful dialogue is more conducive to successful evangelism than entrenched hostility. While seeking to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to my Muslim neighbor, I am willing to pledge to do him no harm and respect his humanity. I cannot imagine Jesus being opposed to this.

What do you think? Can you befriend people of other faiths?

BZ

(The painting is The Good Samaritan by Vincent van Gogh)

Comments

[FrGregACCA]

"Can you befriend people of other faiths?"

Huh? Is that a rhetorical question? Of course! (I can even befriend people of other political orientations. ;-)

BTW, my wife discovered this site last night (Vladyka Lazar's paper on "The Neurobiology of Sin") and I am extremely pleased that she did. I have linked it on my blog. Kudos!

[Carl Medearis]

Carl Medearis here - the co Author of Tea with Hezbollah and author of Muslims, Christians and Jesus. Lived and loved in Beirut for 12 years. I don't just "love" Muslims in some theological sense, i actually like them. Enjoy their company. Maybe even prefer them, Is that allowed? :)
carl

[Karin Armstong]

I am reading "Tea with Hezbollah" by Carl Medearis and Ted Dekker. Your 'statement' reflects the theme of this book which I can not put down. It moves me deeply.

[Logan Runnalls]

Really appreciate this. Good work.

I don't think you need "We believe our faith truly practiced need never be at odds with humanitarian ideals." It's too close to Bonhoeffer's Pharisees who made doing good into an idol. If humanitarianism is a standard than we are not dealing with a Christian (or Jewish or Muslim) ethic no matter how good it is.