Hey Christians & Muslims! Where's the love? - A Dissenter's Plea for Sanity

I recently sent out two emails that caused a smidge of angry backlash from some of the people on my mailing list. In particular, one person was extremely offended and called Rumi (the compassionate poet) EVIL - even spelling it with all caps as if to really emphasize that she knew what she was talking about.

I am neither staunchly Christian nor Muslim but study and embrace teachings from both faiths. As a result I get rejected by modern fundamentalists from both sides. No big deal. Sometimes that's what it takes. The reason I do not wholly embrace either religion is because they both cling to interpretive belief systems that contradict my personal sense of truth and the nature of an inclusive God, and because they require devotion and absolute belief without dissent. That's it in a nutshell.

So by now you gather this is not an intellectual dissertation. Speaking from a personal point of view I am filled with grief in the realization that many followers of both Christianity and Islam are full of anger and greed for the rightness of their beliefs, even though it means turning their backs on the deepest truths that faith has to offer.

Yes - both religions condone "righteous" violence. They do. But really, who is to be the judge of when the time is right? Where's the love? Christians calling Muslims terrorists and not even knowing who Muhammad was and what the Quran says. That's nuts.

These traditions are brothers, founded one within the other and both stemming from Judaism. There are more similarities than differences. The fundamental common point is compassion. And where can compassion more readily be shown than in refusing to succumb to hate and choosing instead to love, setting differences aside.

People, are we so blind that we cannot see ourselves in our enemies? Can we not see that we are the enemy as well? I pray for the day we begin again to look for the Friend and embrace the core message of Christ and Muhammad: GOD is LOVE