Reviewing the National News - 19 May 2006
Prince pitches for religious tolerance.
SITTING on a divan inside a Bedouin tent, the Prince of Wales called for greater respect between religions. His plea for understanding and tolerance came from a tent, architect designed, waterproof, heated and woven from the finest goat hair in Saudi Arabia, situated on the oldest medieval church site in London. The tent is intended to be used by people of all religions, or none, for meditation, worship, storytelling and discussion of religious conflicts, social issues, spiritual authority, women in faith, suffering and other issues. Representatives in Britain of the Baha’is, Buddhists, Jains, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Jews recited prayers, read passages extolling tolerance and ceremonially laid copies of their scriptures on a table at the centre of the tent. The Bishop of London noted that the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam began in desert tents.
Laws of the Sanctuary and Loving
“These are the rules and regulations that you must diligently observe for as long as you live in this country that GOD, the God--of-Your-Fathers, has given you to possess. Ruthlessly demolish all the sacred shrines where the nations that you're driving out worship their gods--wherever you find them, on hills and mountains or in groves of green trees. Tear apart their altars. Smash their phallic pillars. Burn their sex-and-religion Asherah shrines. Break up their carved gods. Obliterate the names of those god sites. Stay clear of those places--don't let what went on there contaminate the worship of GOD, your God." Deuteronomy 12:1-4
“If anyone boasts, "I love God," and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won't love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can't see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You've got to love both.” 1 John 4 20-21
“The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don't go together. This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. “ 1 John 3 14-16
What is our response to this news report in light of the fact that God tells the Israelites to stay clear of places where other gods have been worshiped? Would you worship in the London tent? God calls us to love all mankind. Jesus died for the terrorist, the murderer and every other sinner just like you and me. What challenge does that raise in your life or attitude towards others? Do you judge books by their covers? |
