CTindex - Christian Today UK Interactive Catalogue
Church

Sentamu Urges Muslims to 'Love Thy Neighbour'

The Archbishop of York urged Muslims yesterday to 'love thy neighbour' and learn to live with those they believe feel hostility towards them.

by Anne Thomas
Posted: Friday, September 15, 2006, 9:03 (BST)
Font Scale:A A A

The Archbishop of York urged Muslims yesterday to 'love thy neighbour' and learn to live with those they believe feel hostility towards them.

Dr John Sentamu said that like others who speak out on the subject, he risked being accused of Islamophobia.

He said: "My plea to all Muslims in this country is the words of Jesus Christ, who to you is a prophet and to me a saviour." The archbishop then quoted the Gospel of Matthew: "You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.

"I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. If you love those who love you, what reward do you have?"

The call comes at a time of high tensions over terrorism and the measures used to fight it.

Muslim leaders have been critical of security techniques such as profiling, in which people who are deemed to look most like terrorists are singled out for questioning.

Ugandan-born Dr Sentamu, who became the CofE's first black archbishop last year, has made a strong impression with calls for the return of Christian values to British life and a rejection of multiculturalism.

He said it was unhelpful to call Muslim terrorists Islamic fundamentalists or fascists as these were Christian and political terms that "further alienate those who commit these crimes".

He said they should be called Salafi Jihadists, after the Islamic concept of struggle, which has been bent into the pursuit of murder and mass destruction by members of the Salafi movement.

The Salafi - or Wahabi - branch of Islam, which is dominant in Saudi Arabia, has many peaceful followers who aim to return to the purity of early Islam.

Dr Sentamu said: "For the modern day Salafi Jihadist who defines themselves through acts of mass destruction and terror, Jihad has taken on a whole new meaning.

"There is always a danger when making comments about Jihadists that the charge of Islamophobia follows close behind.

"So let me be clear. I am not by any means talking about all of Islam or all Muslims here."

He said Christians should recognise that one of the biggest contributions of Muslims in Britain had been their denial of the idea that faith should be marginalised.

Dr Sentamu added: "It has often been Muslims who have joined Christians in refusing to accept the creeping secularisation that would replace Christmas with Winterval and remove references to faith from public noticeboards for fear of causing offence.

"It is both my view and my experience that most British Muslims do not feel threatened by our Christian moral foundations but by the cynicism of the secular culture that denies its own foundations."

The Muslim Council of Britain, the Islamic group with closest links to the government, said it could not accept the plea for Muslims to love their enemies.

Spokesman Inayat Bunglawala said: "Just as we could not call on Jews to turn the other cheek when faced with anti-Semitism, it cannot be right that we are asked to tolerate anti-Muslim prejudice.

"We should have a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of prejudice, be it anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim or anti-Christian. But we cannot just turn the other cheek.

"By the same token we cannot take the law into our own hands. The right way is for Muslims to set an example by their own behaviour."



Copyright © 2006 Christian Today. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Have your say on this article
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.

Added: Saturday, September 23, 2006, 17:36 (BST)

It's not a matter of "loving ones neighbor," but rather understanding the predatory nature of our species. Multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious societies are the recipe for creating discordant, divided, and unstable societies.

You might consider publishing this book review to give a counter point of view to political correctness on this matter:

The Demographic Struggle for Power: The Political Economy of Demographic Engineering in the Modern World, Milica Zarkovic Bookman

From review:
The Demographic Struggle for Power is one of the most straightforward and factual accounts now available of how ethnic animosity creates conflict and violence. In a study that focuses on the Balkans but covers all parts of the world, Prof. Bookman takes for granted a central fact of human nature that multi-racial dreamers ignore: Ethnic identity and the desire to preserve it are among the most powerful forces on earth. Perhaps because she is a Slav, Prof. Bookman does not find it necessary to account for group consciousness or to apologize for it. Her purpose is merely to catalogue the policies to which it gives rise...

Carol Rosen, Denver CO

Christian Today Twitter
Google Advertisement
Externally generated - Report offensive links here
Scripture Union
World Headline
Holy Land Christians seek urgent prayer

Holy Land Christians seek urgent prayer

With the International Red Cross warning of a “full-blown” humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Bible Societies in the Holy...
Sponsored Features
Enrich your love life, marriage and relationships through education and counselling. Train to become a certified marriage and family educator and change lives for good. Order books for all ages commending the free and sovereign grace of Almighty God.
01582 765448 For holidays and retreats in the Scottish borders. Whitchester Christian Guest House 01450 377 477 Friendly printing company for churches, charities and businesses nationwide!
Sanct Maria Abbey, NUNRAW
Cistercian Monastery and Guest House
Bookings: 01620 830 228
Email: nunraw.abbot@yahoo.co.uk
Google Advertisement
Externally generated - Report offensive links here