Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue

Instead of being surrounded in paradise by the 72 virgins he believed he was promised in the Quran the latest Islamic 'martyr' will have found himself disappointed along with all the Islamic 'martyrs' who did not know Christ.

Reporting on Interfaith Relations in 2013 the Pew Research Centre stated: "Muslims around the world agree that Islam is the one true faith that leads to salvation. Many Muslims also say it is their religious duty to convert others to Islam."

By contrast the Anglican Church shows no appetite for converting others to Christianity despite the Great Commission. Instead they provide space in churches and cathedrals for inappropriate interfaith meetings, the implication being that many senior Anglicans simply do not understand what they are doing.

If they watch edition 570 of Anglican Unscripted (starting at position 10.40) they should be left in no doubt that Islam is incompatible with Christianity and that Muslims along with other non-Christians need to be saved.

Postscript [05.02.2020]

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: "My Question in the House of Lords yesterday asking the government whether they will go to the root of the problem and encourage our Muslim leaders to reform their religion to stop it being used to carry out attacks like in Streatham on Sunday. Their answer shows they will not." 

The answer given: "My Lords, it is a matter of regret that these outrageous attacks are not limited to any one section of the community and are not to be attributed to religious belief but to a corruption of that belief", indicating that some serious reading is required.

From Christian Concern: "What is Islam? Is it a religion of peace? Read this article by @TDieppe
https://christianconcern.com/resource/is-islam-a-religion-of-peace/

Dialogue and death

Archbishop of Wales, John Davies, welcoming guests at a dinner hosted by the

Muslim Council of Wales in Cardiff.  Source: Church in Wales

On Tuesday 26th March 2019 the Muslim Council of Wales "were delighted" to hold their Annual Interfaith Dinner. It was held at St Fagans National Museum of History "an illustrious venue that is set in the grounds of St Fagans Castle and chronicles the historic lifestyle, culture and architecture of the Welsh people.

"In the usual tradition of the Muslim Council of Wales interfaith dinners, each table in the main hall was named after a virtuous characteristic such as kinship, compassion and hope. The name cards at each seat also had beautiful quotes from the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), such as 'None of you believes until you love for your brother what you love for yourself'.

"Sheikh Yaqoub Kutkut opened the evening with his melodic recitation of the Holy Quran. Professor Saleem Kidwai OBE, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales welcomed everyone in the opening address and a minute of silence was held for the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attack.

A different culture was in evidence in Sri Lanka a few weeks later.

On Easter Sunday, jihadist suicide bombers linked to the Islamic State (IS) group killed at least 253 people and injured some 500 at churches and top-end hotels across Sri Lanka.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is visiting Sri Lanka taking a message described by the Rev George Conger on Anglican Unscripted as:

"Why can't we all get along? Why can't we just be nice to Muslims who are killing us when what is needed is someone to speak about regeneration, salvation and suffering through persecution. We don't need the pablum of the liberal democratic West.

"While the Christians there are under fear for their lives the response of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and of Pope Francis, is that if we are only nicer to Muslims, if we make friends with them and go to their house for dinner every so often, then all shall be well.

"The response that Anglican Unscripted was hearing from its followers was: 'You don't understand; these people want to kill us. They believe that it is for them, Muslims, a moral duty to kill the infidel and we are the infidel, to kill the idolator'

"There is a mismatch between the pablum of Western liberal Christianity and the on-the-ground Christianity of the suffering persecuted Church."

Bishop Gavin Ashenden added:

"There is an incredible arrogance too in Christian commentators in the West who keep on saying the problem with these Muslim terrorists is they don't understand Islam like we do. If they only understood Islam properly they would know it was a religion of peace. They would know that they had no proper mandate to do these things. We could indeed explain how they are being bad Muslims and we expect them to stop and in fact we expect them to stop any day soon because they must surely see they are bad Muslims.

"Of course this is completely out of touch with reality on the ground and the dreadful overlaying of an enormously shallow and prejudiced view of a kind of Western liberal relativistic Islam which has nothing to do with the way in which people read the Quran, live in Islamic communities or see their priorities and so it's a way of evading the truth and evading reality and of course above all it is incredibly patronising and detached from reality."

The uniqueness of Christianity appears to be lost on those in authority in the Church of England and the Church in Wales.

Instead of delivering Christ's message that there is only one way to the Father they convey the impression that all religions are basically the same as expressed by the Bishop’s Officer for Interfaith Dialogue in the archiepiscopal diocese of Swansea and Brecon with its coverage of  Witchcraft, Atheism, Peace Mala, Hare Krishna, Sufi, Islam, Yungdrung Bön, Judaism and Druids.

Presumably in recognition of such work, Interfaith specialists from Europe and North America will be finding out how Wales "models strong relationships between people of different religions" at a conference next week according to a Church in Wales provincial press release:

"Wales’s First Minister and the Archbishop of Wales will be among those describing pioneering partnership work in Wales at the regional meeting of the Anglican Inter Faith Commission.

"The event takes place at Cardiff’s Pierhead building on September 9. It will be chaired by the Archbishop of Dublin and attended by interfaith specialists from Anglican churches in Europe and North American and also representatives from other faiths and church denominations."

The web site of the Anglican Inter Faith Commission includes AIFC News Feeds, one of which is:
15/03/2019 Church leaders offer prayer and solidarity after New Zealand mosque attacks leaves 49 dead.

Like thousands of other persecuted Christians those murdered in Sri Lanka are quietly forgotten.

No response is expected at the Inter Faith Commission to pleas from the persecuted abroad: 'You don't understand; these people want to kill us. They believe that it is for them, Muslims, a moral duty to kill the infidel and we are the infidel'.

Peace Mala. The Archbishop of Wales with supporters @StDavidsNeath.
Source: Twitter @WelshMuslims

Postscripts

06.09,2019

Archbishop Welby pontificates on climate change, but clams up on persecution of Christians in India


08.09.2019

From Christian Concern:
The press regulator guidelines on Islamophobia were leaked this week and reveal a serious threat to press freedom when it comes to Islam related issues.

Extracts from Islamic thought police target the press

"Newspapers and magazines are regulated by the Independent Press Standard Organisation (Ipso) which was set up in 2014 following the phone-hacking scandal. For months, Ipso has been working on a project to draft guidance for journalists on how to report on issues connected with Islam and Muslims. Drafts of this guidance were leaked to the thinktank Policy Exchange which has issued a report about the revelations."

"Trevor Phillips, former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, wrote: 'If we give way to the demands being made, the only people who will find themselves silenced will be those who want to tell the truth'."

"The freedom of the press is under threat from Muslim activists who want to control what is said about Islam. Ipso, the press regulator, is capitulating to their demands. Unless things change, press freedom is set to fall. Truth will be the victim."

09.09.2019

This morning
The Church in Wales Retweeted
"Dr Angus M Slater
@AngusSlater Very proud to be in Cardiff today with Interfaith Professional Doctorate students from @UWTSDLampeter @UWTSD with the Anglican Communion Network for Interfaith Concerns organised by the @ChurchinWales"

in an earlier tweet:

"Real, practical, and impactful interfaith work with students assisting Anglican Bishops from across Europe and North America in the reading of scriptures in an Interfaith light."

[My emphasis - ED.]

They could make a start by reading the scriptures in a traditional Christian light.

16.09.2019

Koran read at Westminster Abbey as Royal Cathedral bows to Islam

“By welcoming an uncritical reading of the Koran, Westminster Abbey asserts the legitimacy of Mohammad and in so doing repudiates Jesus.”

“Reading the Koran in cathedrals is sometimes seen as a sign of civility, hospitality or inclusion. Instead, it validates Islam’s teaching that is predicated on the claim that the resurrection was a fraud and Jesus lied to his followers and the world.”

Viewed from the outside: The Church in Wales is dead.

At position 3.30 in the above video, the decision of the Church in Wales to find a way to introduce gay marriage is discussed.

Described along with the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Brazilian Church as "the least healthy Anglican churches in the world in terms of growth, membership and viability", the Church in Wales was said to be "drowning fast". Coincidental  or not, all three along with the US Episcopal Church were said to have led the charge on gay marriage.

The treatment of conservative elements by the hierarchy in Wales, particularly under former archbishop Barry Morgan, comes in for particular criticism: Traditionalists have been demonised as 'evil' or 'mentally deluded' for not thinking the same way as the bench.

It is a "dreadful environment" for traditionalists in the province of Wales says the Rev George Conger. They no longer want to raise their heads above the ridge because they are going to get their head chopped off.

Described in the video as a fertile mission field because "the faith is still there", the possibility of revival in Wales has been stymied  by the refusal of Church in Wales bishops to allow AMIE and other conservative elements to cross the border.

That was no barrier to the woman bishop invited to celebrate the Eucharist at Llandaff Cathedral even before women bishops were legal in the Church in Wales.

In the 'inclusive' Church in Wales you are welcome only if you are allied to the prevailing culture. Within a generation, says Conger, the Church in Wales will be gone. It is even less healthy than the Church of England which has twenty years to pull out of the nosedive. The Church in Wales has even less time. 

"The faith is still there but the leadership and institutions have failed. The Church in Wales is a dead church."

Murder but no revolution.

I dislike the phrase 'loved ones' but their fate sums up an impending catastrophe.

All those Parish and daughter churches so lovingly cared for by worshippers who lie buried in churchyards, perhaps to be joined by those for whom the penny has still to drop. Their graves will become overgrown with no-one to care for them as the churches close and are sold or left to decay.

Nobody in the liberal Church in Wales seems to care beyond short term gain. Ambition, gratification and relativism are all that matter.

A sad end to Anglicanism in Wales. Nobody will be tried for their crime, not in this life, but you have to wonder if the bishops believe in another life anyway.