Reading About Islam [Book #1]

"Mike homed in on my respect for Jesus. At the time, Mike's favorite Christian author was Josh McDowell, an apologist with a gift for making his arguments accessible to college-age readers... [he] discussed at length C. S. Lewis's claim that there were three possible things Jesus could have been: a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. Both McDowell and Lewis concluded that those were the only three alternatives, and there could be no middle ground. This is because Jesus claimed to be God in the New Testament. If this claim were truee, then one should accept him as Lord. But if Jesus' claim was false, and he knew the claim was false, he would be a liar who had nothing to offer his students. On the other hand, if Jesus believed he was God but wasn't, then he would be a madman. The one thing Jesus could not be, according to this logic, was exactly what I thought he was: a good and wise teacher."

[My Year Inside Radical Islam, pg. 7]

I just started reading this book [aka, I'm on page seven], but already, it makes me wonder. The author, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, used to work for the Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, a charity based in Saudi Arabia. It's goal was to promote Wahhabism, a conservative Islamic sect prominent in Saudi. This, then, inspired terrorist groups, one being Al Qaeda. 

This book is supposed to be the memoir of one man's journey down religious discovery into Islam [as I said, I am only seven pages in]. He  was a Jew through the beliefs of his parents, who "a friend once jokingly referred to... as 'Jewnitarians.'" He met a guy who was a Christian, that, during college, became one of those close-minded, ignorant-ass sons of bitches who would rather convert through bashing other beliefs as illogical than through civilized discussions. [My apologies for that sentence, both in length and language.] The page before, Daveed met this guy's girlfriend, who promptly asked him why he wasn't a Christian.

That's it. No "What do you believe in?" or "What are your thoughts on Christianity?" 

I was so offended when I read that sentence. But the fact of the matter is, seven or eight years ago, that would have been me. I would have bullheadedly asked someone that same ignorant question. Not because I wanted to offend, but I truly couldn't understand how someone couldn't see the logic that Jesus was God. I listened to nothing but Christian music, went to nothing but Christian events, had nothing but Christian friends. I looked at disgust at people who slept in on Sundays, even when I wished I could do the same.

My own faith has changed so much in the past eight years, I can't help but shake my head at my younger self's naivety. By surrounding myself around people who all thought the same, I never questioned why. Why do I believe that Christ is the Son of God? Why do I believe the Bible is the one true Word? What makes Islam and Judaism different my religion, even though we all serve the same God? 

I'm not as close to answering these questions as I would like to be. But I am starting to question. Not so eight years ago. Back then, I would have shit in my pants if I ever thought those questions. I would have gone to confessions for questioning God.

But I'm not. I'm questioning myself, so that when I meet someone, I can be honest with who I am. 

Reading that quote made me realize that Lewis is right, in the sense that Jesus could have also been a liar or a madman. I chose to believe that Jesus was who He said He was. That's my decision. That, however, doesn't give me the right to ridicule people who don't agree with my beliefs. And I agree that Jesus was a good and wise teacher. Who happened to be God. 

Along that line, I was here in Coffee Cottage earlier when I heard a splash behind me. I turned to the family of three to see that someone's coffee had spilled on the table, the floor, the chair and on the pants of the dad. Being sympathetic, I went and borrowed a rag from the barista. I mean, every serious coffee drinker [aka, myself] has spilled coffee on themselves at least once [aka, multiple times].

While the dad went to the bathroom to wash up, I started cleaning up the mess. The mother looked at me and said, "I've never seen you around before."

"Oh, I don't work here."

"Are you a Christian?"

"Yes."

"Oh, you're such a good person."

So, what, I can't be a good person without being a Christian? Because everyone who hasn't proclaimed themselves a disciple of Jesus is doomed to be horrible for the rest of their lives? That's ridiculous! Not every Christian is a nice person, and not every nice person is a Christian. I know this woman wasn't trying to be offensive, but I wonder: What if I was Muslim? Or agnostic? Or a pagan?

It just makes me scratch my head. Both the earlier situation and what I've read in the book so far.