Archive for January, 2010

Can a Muslim be a Good American?

The title above is the head of an email I have repeatedly received from concerned friends. That particular letter is not unique among the hundreds of perhaps well-intended books, articles, emails, and videos condemning Islam, often from Christian authors. They warn us that “radical Islam” is intent on dominating the world, destroying Israel and our . . .

What is Fear? Part 2 of 8: Dealing with Fear The Healthy Way

While fear is naturally triggered in all of us throughout our lives, those of us with the essential foundation of self-esteem and faith in the world learn to deal with its trigger in an objective and discrete fashion. What is the source of this fear? Why has it manefest? How to accurately assess and rate the associated danger and its source in the bigger picture? And of course, how to respond in order to return the sense of safety and focus on matters at hand . . .

From Ted Dekker’s Corner

From my corner: The question at the heart of Tea With Hezbollah is this: How should we as individuals treat our enemies irrespective of that person’s ideology and or religion? In particular, how should we treat Muslims, enemy or not? Jesus was confronted with the Samaritans of his day, who were seen by all as violent heretics worthy of death. Indeed Jesus’ own disciples urged him to call down fire from heaven to destroy them. They were the lowest, most conniving and evil of all heretics. As you know, Jesus response to these enemies was maddening to his disciples . . .

Intentionally Building Bridges

Every few months, Christ-followers from many nations participate in a 10-day experience of intentionally reaching out to our communities. We strive to share the love of Christ with at least one person per day for the first 10 days of the month. We aren’t asking our team to lead people in a “steps to salvation” plan or to coordinate a dramatic altar call to faith. All we ask is that participants in this 10-day event intentionally show Christ’s love to one person a day — whether through helping a neighbor with a home repair or engaging in conversation with someone asking for money . . .

Muslims Speaking Out

I recently wrote a piece for USA Today where I expressed my strong opposition to Muslim extremists, my belief in American pluralism, and my desire to partner with Americans to defeat extremists and achieve pluralism. I got some interesting responses to this article . . .

How I Overcame My Fear of Muslims

Those I’ve feared the most, have become those I’ve loved the most. First I was afraid of Vietnamese and communist – I began to work with them serving them in Vietnam, now they are my friends. I may not agree with them on some things and they not with me – but we can respect one another and work together. Once I got over my fear of communist – I thanked God he had me work with them, and not Muslims! They really scared me – then I wound up doing some relief and development work with Muslims and found out they weren’t all radicals and terrorist like I had made them in my mind. . . .

Who am I?

Recently, I’ve been pondering the question, “Who am I?”  I think that it’s an utterly invaluable question to seek an answer to, because the answer(s) that we come up will drive us forward for our entire life.  I am a person with so many passions in life that sometimes it’s difficult to figure out how . . .

Rethink Bias

by: Jonathan Moreno, President, Center for Global Strategies When you see a man wearing a turban across the aisle from you on a plane, what do you think? If all of the ads on the public bus were written in Arabic, how would you respond? Rethink Bias, a program from the Virginia Interfaith Center, is challenging people . . .

Humanity in the Gaza Strip? By: Tom Doyle

I remember walking through the streets of the Gaza Strip a few months after 9/11 when a traditional Muslim woman in a burqa approached me. “You’re from America, aren’t you?” she asked. “I can tell by your blue eyes.” “Yes I am.” She continued: “Did you see on the news the people in Gaza celebrating in the . . .

I Am an American

by: Jonathan Moreno, President, Center for Global Strategies You may remember a series of ads that came out within days of the 9/11 attacks showing images of different people from across America. The people featured each ad represented an incredibly different part of the American culture. There were New York businessmen, children on farms in the . . .