National Cathedral: Freedom to be Stupid

The National Cathedral recently opened its doors to a Muslim-led prayer service.  According to the Cathedral’s website, the goal was to encourage greater acceptance between Christians and Muslims.  Planners hope that the people around the world will take note of this service and the welcome extended by the Cathedral so that Muslims everywhere will adopt a reciprocal welcome of Christians by Muslims.

One word describes such nonsense: stupid.

Sorry to be so blunt, but a quick review of how Christians get treated in Muslim countries throughout the world shows how obviously off-kilter such thoughts are.  For instance, in Saudi Arabia it is illegal to build a Christian church building.  In America, we allow all religions to practice their beliefs in a relatively unhindered manner (you’re not free to do anything ­– child sacrifice to Baal isn’t allowed, for instance), so mosques dot our landscape even in states like Tennessee in the midst of the so-called Bible Belt.  We don’t require the death penalty for worshipping other Gods or no God.  However, in some Muslim countries, the opposite is true.  The case of Asia Bibi is a good example.  She is a Pakistani Christian whose death sentence for blasphemy was upheld because others claimed she insulted Muhammad.  The case of Saeed Abedini, in jail for over two years in Iran because of his activities there in creating house churches, serves as another high profile example of Muslim “tolerance.”  It’s illegal to build a Christian place of worship in Iran, but the government had long permitted house churches until Ahmedinejad became prime minister in 2005, after which there was a severe crackdown.  In America, we open our doors to Muslims in our so-called “National Cathedral.”

Shockingly, I don’t care that the National Cathedral allowed Muslims to pray inside its walls.  Buildings are just that: buildings.  There is nothing sacrosanct about a Christian church building.  It’s a convenience for the gathering of the local body of Christ, not the place where God dwells.  As Christians, we believe our individual and corporate human bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.  When we leave our church building after Sunday services, the building itself no longer houses God’s presence.  Church can be done anywhere, at any time, and at any place a body of true Christian believers gathers.  My problem here isn’t the entry of Muslims into the building, my problem is the nonsensical rationale offered by the folks that operate the National Cathedral.

Symbolism matters.  You can bet many Americans will see this move as in keeping with America’s tolerant nature.  It symbolically shows our openness to all and our willingness to provide freedom to all.  I agree.  But that’s not why the folks at the National Cathedral did this.  They are seeking reciprocation from Muslims around the world.  I suspect Muslims likely see this act as one of weakness and proof of the inferiority of our beliefs. They would never allow Christian worship to take place inside a mosque.  Never.  

Here’s the thing: Muslims rightly don’t accept Christian worship because according to their beliefs to do so undermines the proper and correct worship of Allah.  Muslim countries practice what they preach, if you will.  Allowing Muslims to pray at the National Cathedral does nothing to ameliorate Muslim actions throughout the world and, from the Muslim viewpoint, shouldn’t.  It’s a hopeless, nonsensical, and futile gesture, filled with grandiose silliness that thinks tolerance as the ultimate religious viewpoint will win the day.

So, what would I suggest?  The National Cathedral should have said something like this:

We are allowing some Muslims to offer prayers to Allah in our building to show them the stark differences between our faiths.  We have no ill will toward Muslim believers, as they are, in every way as us, made in the image of the one true and living God.  As such, we hope and pray that this gesture will help Muslims in the United States and elsewhere come to see the gracious reality of service to others in the name of Jesus Christ.  We do not, in allowing this observance at the National Cathedral in any way accept the tenets of Islam nor do we acknowledge it is true, but we understand that in America all are welcome, even those with whom we have profound disagreement.  No one from the National Cathedral will actively participate in this event.

Reverend Gina Campbell, the National Cathedral’s director of liturgy, claimed Christians and Muslims worship the same God.  We are not going to win Muslims to Christ with mealy mouthed nonsense about seeking reciprocity and by telling Muslims we worship the same God.  Devout Muslims don’t think we worship the same God as they do, and nor should they.

Christians should practice tolerance, or as the apostle Paul called it, conscience.  In 1 Corinthians, Chapters 8, 9, and 10, Paul discusses Christian tolerance at length.  He explores how Christians can exercise discretion and judgment in matters which do not undermine the faith.  What Paul does not do, however, is ever suggest conscience rises above the clear tenets the faith: we are sinners in desperate need of salvation, which is found only through faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  He did not offer multiple means for accessing true religion.  Islam is false.

The leaders at the National Cathedral bungled this not because they allowed Muslims to pray in their building.  They bungled it because they refused to stand tall for their faith.  They bungled it because they see tolerance as more important than holiness, and reciprocity as more important than truth.  They bungled it because they are cowards who would rather seek worldly approval than the approval of the holy and living God into whose hands it is a fearful thing to fall.