Can a Muslim Tell Us Anything About Jesus?

Yesterday, my Facebook newsfeed was on fire with two things. One, Pope Francis' comments about gays. And two, a Fox interview with Reza Aslan, the author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth.

The so-called news channels (Source)

Now, I refuse to judge a man based on an interview on a so-called news channel. What passes for journalism today is nothing more than thinly veiled propaganda. I'm reading his book. I'll be reviewing it later.

But the main question I ask is: Can a non-Christian tell Christians anything about Jesus?

I think they can. Two of my favorite paintings of Jesus were done by non-Christians.

Source

This is a painting of Jesus done by a Buddhist using some traditional symbolism found in pictures of Bodhisattvas. Jesus is situated in a desert and directly behind him is the cross. He's seated on a lotus, which symbolizes purity and non-attachment. Both of those are among the highest values for a Buddhist to attain. Between his hands is a tiny heart. That was my latest discovery looking at this picture. I've looked at it for 8 or 9 years now and I'm still finding little things like that to meditate upon.

The White Crucifixion by Marc Chagall (Source)

This one is apparently one of Pope Francis' favorites too. It places Jesus' crucifixion squarely in the history of persecution endured by the Jewish people. Jesus was a Jew. He was born and he died a good Jewish boy. The roots of our faith and practices are all in Judaism. Judaism deserves our utmost respect.

I look forward to the day when my family gets to move into a house with more wall-space so I can hang my copies of these paintings up again.

I think it's valuable to see Jesus through non-Christian eyes. Seeing something fresh gives you a new perspective. From their religious traditions, they might see something in Jesus that you do not see and that always gives good food for thought. As long as we approach it with a discerning spirit, we can never learn enough about our Lord.

3 Christian Images for the Boston Marathon Bombings + 1

Anyone who has read this blog for very long knows that I think long and hard before I say anything about major news stories. I decided to cover this story using the same concept I used with the Newtown shooting, but I had a much harder time coming up with images. I could see the faults in every image that came to mind. So, please, know that I do not intend to be offensive in any of these.

1. The Good Samaritan

Speaking as someone who watched it all unfold on the news, I was among those struck by the sheer number of people who ran toward the blasts instead of away. By now, we've all seen those iconic photographs of people pushing wheelchairs and caring for the injured. One of the things that touched me most was the stories of runners running to the hospital to give blood. I think the longest I've ever run in my life was a mile. I can't imagine how tired these people were, but they literally went the extra mile and gave a pint of their own blood.

2. Paul's Running Metaphor 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

There are runners and spectators that are not going to walk, much less run, again due to injuries. Amputees and others are looking at long, hard therapy to return their lives to some semblance of normal. They need our prayers to support them through all of the work they have to do. They, in turn, will serve as an inspiration for those who watch them fight against the odds. They will truly be embodying the kind of discipline that Paul describes in this post. The last thing any of them need to be worrying about is the massive medical bills that will be coming from this. You can donate here.

3. "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith" 2 Timothy 4:7 

There were three fatalities. All three were way too young to die, especially the 8-year-old. He had just had his First Communion. Our prayers are also with them and their families. I really have nothing else to say.

 

+ 1 "Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart." Hebrew 4:12

 I saw on a number of news outlets the dead Boston bombing suspect said that the Bible was a "cheap copy of the Koran" and that it was used to justify the US invading the Middle East. It is very disrespectful to say disparaging remarks about another faith's holy book. The Bible is very important to me and to many other people in the United States, just like the Koran was important to him. We need to stop attacking one another's faith. (That also goes for the idiots who burned a copy of the Koran and who said the Koran should be flushed!)

The Cloud of Witnesses: Reflections on the 4th Sunday of Easter

All who were destined for eternal life came to believe,
and the word of the Lord continued to spread
through the whole region. - Acts 13:48b-49

Apostle Andrew spreading Gospel in what is now known as Russia

I, John, had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. - Revelation 7:9

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.” - John 10:27-30

There is one clear overarching theme this Sunday: The spread of Christianity to people of every nation and the great cloud of witnesses that proceeded us to Heaven. There are 2.18 billion Christians in the world, around half of them are Catholic. This is all from a relatively small band of Jewish men and women from Galilee. How crazy is that?

The vision from Revelation that we read about this week (Revelation 7:9, 14b-17) is a view of the martyrs in heaven. John sees that these martyrs dressed in white robes carrying palm branches, both of which are traditional symbols of martyrdom. Someone explains to him that they are now happy and fulfilled in Heaven. Now, when we think of martyrs, we will think of St. Stephen being stoned (Acts 7) or St. Peter being crucified upside down.

We don't think about the fact that Christians are being killed for their faith today. In the history of Christianity, about 70 million people have died for their faith. Sixty-five percent of those martyrdoms have occurred in the last century. Let me repeat that: 65%. That's around 45.5 million people! Most of these martyrdoms have occurred under Communist and fundamentalist Islamic regimes.

Christians in the countries colored red on this map face persecution   

The modern face of the persecuted church: A bombed out church in India

 

We have an ever growing cloud of witnesses. Not to belittle our current issues with the HHS mandate and stuff like that, but here in the United States we at least have the freedom to go to church. We have the freedom to pray and to read the Bible. We can get together in public places with other believers. We can protest governmental policies we don't like. There are many, many Christians in the world who cannot do any of those things.

 

Think about that the next time you are too tired for church on Sunday or you don't feel like doing your prayers. (Just like you think about the starving kids when you throw away your leftovers.) 

 

Read more:

 

Voice of the Martyrs

 

Recent news stories about the persecution of Christians (Each word is a link. All of the stories are from this month)

 

An article about Christian persecution in Israel by John Allen Jr.

HHS Mandate: Cutting through all the misinformation

Offensive political cartoon, but this is exactly how Catholics feel

 
The word "mandate" has been thrown around a lot lately when it comes to healthcare, so I want to start by defining what I mean. The mandate I'm referring to requires all employers to give their employees health care that covers contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. There are a lot of half truths out there when it comes to this mandate, so I would like to clear some of them up. And then I will tell you what I think.

What is the HHS mandate anyway?

The HHS mandate a product of the ACA. The ACA requires all employers to provide insurance and requires that insurance to cover preventative care. It left it up to Secretary Sebelius and the Obama administration to define what constitutes preventative care. They concluded that birth control and sterilization were part of preventative care. Therefore, all employers are required to have insurance that covers birth control and sterilization.

So, what exactly is the relationship between ACA (aka Obamacare) and the HHS mandate?

The HHS mandate is not part of ACA, but ACA makes the mandate possible. The mandate was added to ACA, it was not part of the original legislation. Therefore, the recent Supreme Court decision about the constitutionality of ACA does not have any affect on the current legal battles about the HHS mandate.

Obama, I'm a democrat, I voted for you. Why do you infringe on my Church?

Isn't there an excemption for religious employers?

Here is the exception:

"The amended interim final regulations specified that, for 
purposes of this exemption, a religious employer is one that: (1) Has 
the inculcation of religious values as its purpose; (2) primarily 
employs persons who share its religious tenets; (3) primarily serves 
persons who share its religious tenets; and (4) is a non-profit 
organization..."

Many (in fact, I may argue most) Catholic employers do not qualify under this exemption. Catholic schools, hospitals and charities do not hire Catholics only, do not serve Catholics only, and their main goal is not to spread Catholicism. In the case of Catholic hospitals and charities, their main goal is usually to serve the poor regardless of their faith. I know many Catholic school students who are not Catholic.

What do I think?

I am against birth control, but not for the same reasons as the leaders of my church. Maybe I'll get into that someday, but not today.

My main issue is the HHS' infringement on first amendment rights. I might not know much, but I do know I'm a huge fan of the first amendment. There are two things I live for (other than my husband and baby):

1) writing

and

2) practicing my Catholic faith

If it wasn't for the first amendment, my head would have been put up on a stake years ago by some crazy dictator.

 Just like this evil girl just did to Santa

The first amendment states:   

 "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to 
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

The government does infringe on the free exercise of religion when the free exercise is harmful to other people. I don't think that the Catholic Church's stance on birth control is harmful for other people. Catholic employers do have exceptions for women who have a medical necessity for birth control. If there is no medical necessity, supporting birth control would be essentially supporting sex. Sex between unmarried people where artificial birth control measures are used is immoral according to the Catholic Church. Having sex isn't a necessity of life, it's a choice. The Catholic Church refusing to pay for or condone birth control when there is no medical necessity is not robbing anyone of anything they need.

Trying to add some humor.

An analogy I heard a while back goes like this:

Forcing the Church to support birth control is like forcing an Islamic school to serve pork on Fridays.

At first, I found the analogy very offensive. Who in their right mind would equate birth control and halal laws? But as I think about it more, the analogy seems apt. This analogy isn't equating birth control and halal laws. This analogy is equating two things that these religions believe are teachings from God. Just as Muslims feel it is against God's will to eat pork, Catholics feel that it is against God's will to use artificial birth control. According to the First Amendment of our Constitution, the government cannot force a religion to do something that they feel is against God's will.

And if you're going to respond, "Well, 98% of Catholics don't agree with this teaching!" I'm going to have to inform you that your statistic is flawed. The survey that led to that number eliminated all nuns/sisters, all married women, all women who are not sexually active and all women who want to have children. So if you poll only sexually active unmarried women who do not want to have kids, then of course, you'll get the number you want.

There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.

 
Here are some useful links for (admittedly biased) information:

Defense against frequently used arguments for the HHS mandate

Debunking more myths

Women against the ban: The article and the letter

The National Petition

Last, but not least, the official USCCB website (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)

Stop the birth control mandate!

Please sign the petition found here.

To quote the affore-linked website:

"On August 1, 2011 the Department of Health and Human Services directed by Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic, adopted the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that “the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods” be determined a “preventive care service for women.” Under these new guidelines, mandatory coverage will be provided for surgical sterilization, all prescription contraceptives approved by the FDA - including drugs like Ella that can cause abortions in the early weeks of pregnancy - as well as counseling to promote them. This directive from the Affordable Care Act initiative will be supported by tax payers without a conscience clause exemption, violating the civil and religious liberties of millions of Americans."

Please defend religious liberties and sign the petition.