R.H. Aly’s column about Samaritan’s Purse perplexed me.
First, she quipped that Samaritan’s Purse evangelism efforts will be a “slap in the face” to Muslims. However, it is her that is giving the slap in the face, for Samaritan’s Purse is not forcing conversion. They are giving the Iraqi people a choice many haven’t had: The choice of whether to believe in Islam or Christianity. Denying them something that we in America often take for granted is the true slap in the face.
Also, she stated “Now that Americans are going into Iraq in hopes of converting its people, Muslims are getting a clearer picture: Islam is the wrong religion. Christianity is the right religion.” That is one obvious message Muslims will get, but I don’t see why this is wrong. That is a message conveyed whenever any type of persuasion is used.
For example, a point I received from R.H’s column is that Christianity is the wrong belief system, whereas pluralism is right. How could one not get that from what she wrote? Telling others about Christ is at the core of our faith; Jesus Himself commanded it. She may not have been trying to convert others to Islam, but she certainly attempted to convert others to her way of thinking that it is wrong for Christians to evangelize non-believers.
If it is okay for her to persuade others to think that her pluralistic way of thinking is correct, why is it immoral when Franklin Graham tries to persuade Iraqis that Christianity is correct? Why does she not want them to do what she does every week in her columns?
It is okay to say that people are wrong in their beliefs and thinking. That simply is a byproduct of any discussion about truth, and truth is what religions deal with. Drop the shell game about being offended when someone says your beliefs are wrong, and let truth have its say by examining which worldview has reason on its side. Most Muslims I know have been the first to admit this. Islam is an evangelizing religion itself, so why she takes offense when someone of another faith evangelizes is odd.
Rich BordnerOSU alumnus
