Boreal

An Absurd and Dangerous Resolution

The second global post 9/11 Conference on World Religions (Sep 11-14, 2011) was organized by McGill University and the Université de Montreal. Prominent attendees included the Dalai Lama (Buddhism) Tariq Ramadan (Islam) theologian Gregory Baum (Christianity) and Steven Katz (Judaism).

The Montréal conference, whose theme was Peace through Religion, ended with the formal adoption of the following three resolutions:

1. Resolved that a course in World’s Religions should be taught wherever the confessional study of religion is carried out – in a seminary, or Yeshiva, or Madrasah, or Hindu Matha or Buddhist monastery – provided that it has been approved by the apex body of that religion.

2. Resolved that violating the sanctity of the scripture of any religion, amounts to violating the sanctity of the scriptures of all religions.

3. Resolved that the religions of the world should come together to formulate a Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the World’s Religions, which would embody their vision of human flourishing, and which would supplement the U.N. Declaration.

The second resolution is not only absurd but dangerous. Dangerous, not only because it is a challenge to freedom of speech and expression but because it does not differentiate between benign scriptures that promote peace and love and malignancies that promote violence and hatred; absurd because it forces a religion to come to the aid of its nemesis.

The Koran reveals that Jesus was sent by Allah with His Message; but that he made a complete mess of it. For example, Jesus said that you turn the other cheek; what Allah actually said was:

2:179 In retaliation there is life for you, O people of understanding, that you may be God-fearing.

Allah, tiring of sending His Message via incompetent messengers or poor communicators, sent the Prophet Muhammad whom He could count on to get His Message right the first and last time. The Message makes no bones about the Sender's contempt for Christians.

Can We Be Friends?

In the Koran, Jesus is not the Son of God and he did not die on the cross. People who say otherwise are either badly misinformed or despicable liars.

4:157 And their (sic) saying: “We have killed the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary and the Messenger of Allah.” They neither killed nor crucified him; but it was made to appear so unto them. Indeed, those who differ about him are in doubt about it. Their knowledge does not go beyond conjecture, and they did not kill him for certain;

4:158 Rather Allah raised him unto Him. Allah is Mighty and Wise.

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18:1 Praise be to Allah, Who revealed the Book to His servant and did not leave in it any crookedness.

18:4 And to warn those who say: “Allah has taken a son.”

18:5 They have no knowledge thereof, nor do their fathers. What a dreadful word that comes out of their mouth! They only utter a lie.

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19:88 And they say: “The Compassionate has taken Himself a son,”

19:89 You have indeed made a shocking assertion,

If we subscribe to the absurdity that “violating the sanctity of the scripture of any religion, amounts to violating the sanctity of the scriptures of all religions” then to simply deplore the Koran’s denunciation of Christian beliefs would have to be considered an attack on Muslims. This is ridiculous!

The fact that Christians would accept such a resolution is a testament to their ignorance of Islam’s core religion text; an ignorance that will be their undoing.

Bernard Payeur