With a good deal of fanfare, a group of 138
Muslim clerics from around the globe released a statement to Christian
leaders earlier this month calling for peace and understanding between the
two religions. American and other Western newspapers and media lapped
it up. "Muslim Leaders Reach Out to Christians" announced the Los
Angeles Times. "Muslim Leaders Send Peace Message" headlined Time magazine.
Addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and a long list
of metropolitans, patriarchs and archbishops, the letter literally cites
chapter and verse in the Bible as well as the Koran spelling out the
duty of believers to love God and one another. If "Muslims and
Christians are not at peace," the clerics write, "the world cannot be at peace."
There is more -- much more -- along these lines. The missive closes
with this peroration: "Let us vie with each other only in righteousness
and good works. Let us respect each other, be fair, just and kind to one
another and live in sincere peace, harmony and mutual goodwill."
Fine words. Professor John Esposito, director of
the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian
Understanding at Georgetown University (and the foremost American apologist for
Muslim extremism), presented the letter to the American audience as "an
historic event."
So what do we have here? The statement is
chock-full of Biblical and Koranic injunctions to love one's neighbor and to
pursue righteousness. And yes, it would be a lovely world if people
could simply apply those dictates to their daily lives and abjure hatred,
violence and sin. Arguably, millions do. But all of that skirts the
elephant in the room. You can read through this entire letter and never
learn that there are Muslims all over the world currently interpreting
their faith as a license to slaughter innocent human beings (very much
including fellow Muslims). Moreover, the overall thrust of the document
suggests that misunderstanding between Muslims and Christians (rather
than problematic interpretations of Islam) is what threatens world peace.