Donald Sensing, a United Methodist pastor and retired Army officer, always writes some of the most thought-provoking material on the Internet. Whether you agree with him on an issue or not, he offers solid food-for-thought (not regurgitations of what he heard on anyone’s radio or cable talk show) and his unique perspective (looking at issues at times from both a military and theological background) makes him a MUST READ.
Another MUST READ from Sensing is HERE. A small excerpt:
But we also need to understand that violence does not occupy the same theological space in Christianity as it does in Islam. Christianity has historically had to justify the use of violence even for just reasons, such as the maintenance of public order, punishment of criminals or making war. Violence just does not have a natural place inside the world view of the New Testament. It can be justified, but only uneasily, with great caution and no little difficulty. The times in history when Christian societies or Christian armies embraced violence as a means of propagating the faith are not held as exemplars today.
But in Islam, violence’s theological space is not uncomfortable at all. It is a natural fit. Conversion at the point of the sword was not a regrettably necessary means to expanding the caliphate because there was no other way, it was an inherently praiseworthy, indeed, desirable, means. And this is mainstream Muslim history, not “radical.” Warfare has never been denied by the main streams of Muslim theology to be other than an acceptable (though not always desirable) way to propagate their religion. If I am wrong, someone please provide cites to the contrary in a comment.
Sensing considers the Pope’s comments “ill-advised.” Read his post in its entirety.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.