| Archive for bridgebuilder.myfreeforum.org bridgebuilding effort, cross culture, cross faith, not bridge construction |
| obmar |
Christian Scholars Apologize for CrusadesChristian Scholars Apologize for CrusadesTue. Nov. 27, 2007 http://www.islamonline.net/servle...ename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout CAIRO — Reciprocating a goodwill gesture by 138 Muslim scholars, more than 300 Christian scholars and clergymen from across the globe have signed a letter apologizing to Muslims for the Crusades and the repercussions of America's so-called war on terror. "We want to begin by acknowledging that in the past (e.g. in the Crusades) and in the present (e.g. in excesses of the war on terror) many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbors," says the letter made available to the press at a news conference in Abu Dhabi on Monday, November 26. "Before we 'shake your hand' in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world," added the "Loving God and Neighbor Together" letter. The Crusades were a series of military conflicts of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe during 1095–1291, most of which were sanctioned by the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church to originally capture Al-Quds from Muslim rule. The Vatican has never apologized for the Christian expeditions. "It is an unprecedented gesture to bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians, who make up 55 percent of the world's population," Muslim preacher Al-Habib Ali Al-Jafri told the press conference. Early October, 138 Muslim scholars and dignitaries, including Jafri, sent a letter to the world's Christian clergy, including Pope Benedict XVI, for dialogue based on common essentials between Islam and Christianity. The call has already won plaudits from many non-Catholic leaders, including Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Lutheran World Federation head Bishop Mark Hanson, World Council of Churches head Rev.Samuel Kobia and US Presbyterian Church head Clifton Kirkpatrick. Roman Catholic cardinals said Sunday, November 25, the Vatican will have a positive response in the near future. Actions not Words The signatories of the new letter, mostly clergymen from the United States, said they were deeply "encouraged" and "challenged" by the Muslim letter. "We receive the open letter as a Muslim hand of conviviality and cooperation extended to Christians world-wide," they wrote. "In this response we extend our own Christian hand in return, so that together with all other human beings we may live in peace and justice as we seek to love God and our neighbors." Miroslav Volf, founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture who compiled the response letter, said they hope to narrow all differences between Muslims and Christians. He hopes the Muslim and Christian letters would serve as a springboard for a more serious and respectful rather than a "polite ecumenical" dialogue between the two religions. "We are persuaded that our next step should be for our leaders at every level to meet together and begin the earnest work of determining how God would have us fulfill the requirement that we love God and one another." Al-Jafri, the Muslim preacher, said Muslims would take more positive steps in the days to come. "We will hold more conferences and meetings at all levels to enrich inter-faith dialogue." Click to Read the Letter http://www.yale.edu/faith/abou-commonword.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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| Blue1moon |
Re: Christian Scholars Apologize for Crusades
About time, huh?
Perhaps 2008 will bring more peace into our world! Let us hope/pray that it is so! |
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| Radiate_Truth |
Re: Christian Scholars Apologize for Crusades
Very moving gesture... Why apology for something you didn't do nor were you even born or even their to begin with??? |
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| Blue1moon |
Re: Christian Scholars Apologize for Crusades
Indeed, but there is still bad feeling regarding it - resentments... An apology for what the "Church" condoned in the past, will perhaps make the "Church" and it's followers think twice before condoning such again in the future. (a small hope, perhaps, but at least a hope!) |
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| Radiate_Truth |
Re: Christian Scholars Apologize for Crusades
Jews have been accused of the crucifixation of Jesus Christ since the dawn of mankind. Yet, the Jews of today weren't even there when it happened. There are some things that shouldn't be consistently dug up. It's like rubbing salt in an open wound. Some should, just rise above it and get over it. My father fought in Vietnam and World War II. I don't know if he killed anybody or not. I didn't ask. I was born in a time when Germany was still rebuilding itself. Should I be held for the act or actions of my fore-fathers before I born. Sorry!!! I don't think so. Rubbing it in some one's face would only or could piss them off. Some things are better off, left alone or unsaid. |
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| The Inquisitor |
RT,
Though I understand your viewpoint, and I totally agree with its premise, there are certain historical events that stand out and need special attention. One such act was internement of the Japanese-Americans during WWII. It was incorrect for the US government to blindly assume that these people would somehow be more loyal to Japan than to the US. President Reagan recognized the impropriety of this and publicly apologized to the survivors of these camps. I'm not a great Reagan supporter, but I admire his courage and his foresight to acknowledge a wrong and make amends, even if it's decades after the fact. I was one proud American when I saw the survivors of those camps, including Senator Daniel Inouye, accecpt our country's apology for this wrongful act. I thought to myself, "That's what America's all about. We may not be perfect, but when we see a wrong, even one we are guilty of doing, we have the guts and temerity to stand up and say, 'Yes, it was wrong and we apologize, but we have learned from it and it will not be repeated.'" Anyone can stand tall when they do something right, but only the best can stand tall and freely admit when they err. The Holocaust, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the genocides in Armenia and elsewhere, and other great tragedies over the centuries fall into this category. The Muslims aren't squeaky clean either. They ravaged and pillaged Eastern Europe for centuries under the Ottoman Empire and I have many Bulgarian friends who speak about the atrocities committed by them. For me, an apology is not a sign of weakness, rather it's a recognition of past errors and an open willingness to avoid the same mistake in the future. As far as the persecution of Jesus by the Jews, that is something between those two faiths exclusively. The Crusades and other atrocities were meted out to the general public in very destructive ways. They impacted entire civilizations, not just one person. |
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| obmar |
Re: Christian Scholars Apologize for Crusades
AMEEN |
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| Radiate_Truth |
Thank you!!! For me, the world is the way it is cause of our individual contributions to it. To me it should be something that should have been taken on, making amends between the individuals involved without interference from outsiders. |
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| obmar |
Recently there was some demonstration by some Malaysian Hindus in Malaysia.
They claimed that they were here in Malaysia because their forefathers were forcefully taken out of India. Now they demand the Queen of england to pay compensation to them. |
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| Radiate_Truth |
Interesting you would say that...
Same goes with the Palestinians. They don't want land, they want financial compensation. |
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| obmar |
Did they say they dont want the land
Did they say they wanted just compensation? Many died to establish a legitimate Palestine. |
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| The Inquisitor |
Actually, I think there are many Palestinians who just want to go on living where they are now. They aren't too concerned about financial rewards at this point. When an entire population faces foreign tanks, bulldozers, soldiers and helicopters on a regular basis, and many of their loved ones are killed as a result, I think they would first prefer to end the violence and the attacks so they can get on with the business of living. From what I've read, the Palestinians are very upset that Jewish settlements are popping up everywhere in the West Bank and are separating families as a result. The many check points they have to traverse on a daily basis is also a pretty big sore spot for many, especially when you start hearing about the sick and infirm who die at these check points before they can receive proper help from a hospital. There is also a lot of concern over their right to return to their homes which are now in territory of Israel. Overall, I think that there are many reasons for each side to blame the other. True peace will happen when these concerns are met to the satisfaction of those who are complaining. I don't see that happening anytime soon, however. |
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| obmar |
Unfortunately the media spin that makes muslims to be terrorist doesn't help the Palestinians either.
I have not forgotten Sabra and Shatila although 25 years had lapse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_massacre |
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| Radiate_Truth |
I wouldn't call terroristing innocent people legitimate... Don't know if I can find it, it's been what seems so long ago. Had an article on that years ago about them wanting compensation. You know how that goes, when it comes to the media... You don't know what to believe any more. |
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| obmar |
i used to think the indians were the bad guys because of the movies.
only later i found out otherwise |
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| Radiate_Truth |
Your link won't open for me unless I unblock the pop-up... This has never happened before. Sabra & Shatila |
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| The Inquisitor |
obmar,
Everyone was at each other's throat throughout the 20th Century, but especially the latter half. Remember the Hotel King David massacre approved by David Ben Gurion in 1946. Christians fighting Muslims. Muslims fighting Jews. Jews fighting Muslims. Christians fighting Jews (this slowed down a lot in the latter half of the 20th Century - but Hitler was a maniac along with Stalin. We can't forget the Soviets fighting all religions. Of course, the Jews, Muslim and Christians fought most other religions as well, or athiests as in the case of the Soviet Union, .
That's probably what broke the back of the British and they soon gave up and sponsored Israel's entry in the UN. It's just gone downhill in the latter half of the 20th Century where war after war has ravaged the entire region. There were the tumultuous days of the late 1940s when Jews fought for recognition, actually they fought so that Great Britain would let them have the land from the Balfour Declaration of 1917. After that, every few years the Arabs (and not just Muslim Arabs) fought Israel, in other words, the US military was checking out the Soviet military. Then Lebanon exploded in 1975. The Las Vegas of the Mediterranean Sea engulfed in a 15-year war with all religions duking it out. With the Shahs outster in 1979 the Middle East started a downhill slide in violence that is just taking off with no end in sight. We meddled in the early 1980s, but that only got a bunch of Marines killed, it didn't solve anything. Israel was also involved with Ariel Sharon. Now Hezbollah is born in Lebanon just to keep in military synch with the US and Israel. Of course, all this time the PLO headed by Arafat was a terrorist, then a nonterrorist, then a terrorist organization, and I think in the last few years of his life the PLO was a beneficial thorn in the side of Israel. They couldn't accomplish very much (they were only sporadic at best) and he was getting old and tired. Nevertheless, as long as Arafat was around, Israel had its reason to keep on high alert. It's still thoroughly confusing and once you add Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran in the mix as far as war zones are concerned, the mess will be messy for a long time. Great Britain handed the US the reins over the Middle East right after WWII, you know, the whole Ghandi thing. So the British forces left the area in the capable (cough - cough) hands of the Americans. And oil is just getting to be a part of almost everything we manufacture and package. It's very possible that the Bilderberg group forced the reading of the NIE findings. They knew this would pull the rug out from under Bush. http://www.jerusalemites.org/crimes/massacres/6.htm |
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| obmar |
add to that Hindus, after the MuslimThroat in India, Muslims returned for the Hindu Throat, but all for one simple reason.
They forgot the real vowed enemy. That vowed enemy made a promise to God to Misled men. and men forgot that while the enemy never did. |
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