Open Letter to OBL

A. Unabashed Pacifist:

A little peace never hurt anybody.

B. Unabashed Christian:

Holy One,

I have entered your realm of both spirit and matter, time and eternity.
I delight in its beauty and wonder.

I have entered the human realm of loneliness and relationship.
I delight in its love and compassion, but I shrink from its waste and its horrors.

Move me from this fearful and power-seeking realm into your realm of trust and humility.
Amen

C. Un-quoting Jesus:

"The first commandment is this: do unto others before they do unto you. The second is like it: cover your ass."

[If He said it - He didn't -, He didn't follow His own advice. Or, perhaps He was being sarcastic?]

D. Blog: Open Letter to OBL

Dear Sheik Osama,

I read with interest the BBC account of your recent video, in which you encouraged the United States to embrace or convert to Islam. As a member and former minister (ordination withdrawn upon my request) of a Christian church, I would like to respond to your suggestion with some questions and observations, about religion and about religion in the United States.

1. I wonder whose version of Islam you would have us embrace? Shia’s? Sunni’s? Al-qaeda’s? One of those that kills other followers of Islam? Peace-loving Muslims? We in the United States do not hear or see much about the latter group, just as you probably do not hear or see much about faithful and peace-loving Christians or Jews in the United States. If the version of Islam you follow is no better than our own distorted Christianity or Judaism, I see no point to embracing or converting to it.

2. I wonder whether you have ever been to the United States? Do you know that in the US there are followers of every religion you can imagine, including an estimated 7 million followers of Islam?

3. Here’s a concept for you: despite the common misconception about the US being a Christian nation, the US has no official religion. That would, in fact, violate our constitution. There is, in other words, no religion from which the US can convert. Individual citizens, on the other hand, are free to convert from any religion to any other religion they choose.

4. Here’s a suggestion/proposal: if you convert to a truer version of Islam, maybe then people in the US would be interested. Or, perhaps they would consider conversion to a truer version of their own religion. A fundamental notion in the US is that religion is a personal affair. One’s religion cannot be determined by government authority, nor by application of force or threat. Such religion cannot be authentic.

5. I believe that religion – any religion – that endorses killing in the name of religion, of God, of Allah, is an abomination to God. It commits blasphemy against the name of Allah/God. It worships something (usually power or fear) other than God/Allah. It shames all religion and all who strive to live righteous lives. It leaves God/Allah behind and follows gods of domination. It no longer walks in the spirit of the Divine.

6. People continue to do terrible things in the name of God, whether they claim to be Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Sunnis or Shias. All blaspheme against the Holy One, particularly when we justify our violence and killing in the name of the Holy One.

7. We all need conversion from our violent ways, which are not of God/Allah.