E.J. Dionne's new book is all about "taking back" faith from the
feverish mouths of the right. Aside from the obvious silliness
that comes of asserting that one can really "hijack" an entire
religion, Dionne in a
TNR op-ed makes a wonderful point about Christians
working at an organization called "Catholic Relief":
..[W]hat's striking is that the faith of its employees is
inherent in what they do, not something they wear on their
sleeves. McGarry says his co-workers are not in the field to
preach Christianity, even if the fact they are there bears
witness to their faith.
He then notes something that makes me curious:
McGarry says his co-workers are not in the field to preach
Christianity, even if the fact they are there bears witness to
their faith. Indeed, in most Afghan villages, seeking converts
among Muslims would be highly dangerous. The group consciously
avoids preaching the Gospel, and its Afghan staff is
overwhelmingly Muslim.
This pretty much flies in the face of what he later complains
about:
It is strange how a faith that traces its origins to a stable,
preaches love and demands good works is so often invoked to
condemn, to divide and to denounce.
Never mind that he lumps Catholics, Fundamentalists, and
Unitarians together. (I'm not expressing a preference, but there
are real things that divide these denominations.) A number of
Christian organizations go out of their way to employ and work
with people of other faiths without proselytizing.
(Let's put aside the weird assertion that there's value in not
telling other people what you believe can help them.) I wonder if
we looked over the number of Muslim organizations that do this in
Christian countries, versus the number of Christian organizations
that do the same in Muslim countries, how those numbers would add
up?
I don't know this, so I'm putting this as a question to readers.
I'm sure that there are Muslim organizations that do this. I just
don't know which. But I do chafe at the idea that a religion
sells itself short when it "condemns, divides, and denounces." A
shepherd that allows his flock to wander off and lose itself
isn't much of a shepherd.
But then again, that doesn't conform to Dionne's stereotype.
