Customer comments on this selection.
 Practical Example
This book provides a practical example of what can be done to improve the relationship between Muslims and Christians at the local level. It also provides a well argued case for the way in which Islam can help a Christian's appreciation of their own faith. Meeting Islam: A Guide For Christians (A Many Mansions Book)
 OUR POPE'S CURRENT CALL FOR DIALOGUE WITH ISLAM REQUIRES THIS RESOURCE NOT SPENCER
As our good Pope Benedict infallibly commands us to seek dialogue and compassionate communion with our Islamic brothers and sisters (who unlike our own have not kicked the habit!) we need to read prayerfully the works of our ordained deacon Dardess as a bridge to understanding and union.
His other excellent resource Do We Believe in the Same God? builds upon the findings of unity established in the Documents of the Second Vatican Council, and draws areas of agreement with our Muslim brothers. Now this earlier, more philosophical and focussed text as well provides us a means to comprehend what our popular media and war mongering, fear-mongering unChristian books such as Spencer's do not want us to know, to believe, and to trust as one family and even as one faith in the One True God.
Deacon Dardess has courageously and carefully and prayerfully studied directly all of the issues involved, the text as well as the people, including learning Arabic to study the texts in the original. What other current theologian can claim as much? He finds he learns more deeply the moral teachings of our own faith through the Muslim mirror. As the Samurai Hagakure speaks: Even hearing of another way only makes us more solid in our own way. We have nothing to fear from learning from other Faith expressions, and we have eternity to gain.
As the Rev. Father Teilhard de Chardin taught us: All that rises must converge. By the mystery of parallax we may together percive the Truth and path to peace as one people.
Besides, Our Holy Father in Rome instructs us to grow in dialogue with our Muslim brothers, for peace and companionship. We can do no less!
Dardess generously gives us at his own self-sacrifice in primary research a place to begin and to carry us through. This is indeed the path to peace which is Jesus Christ.
As we follow in these footsteps we follow as well the bloodied bare footprints of Saint Francis of Assissi, first missionary to the Muslim and emissary of Peace, who during the Fifth Crusade travelled to meet in peace unarmed with the Muslim Sultan Malik-al-Kamil, and returned to Assissi unscathed and unterrorized by any Muslim only to discover to his great horror that his own friars had acquired property in his absence and built great convents which he immediately set about to unroof in the opposite of his actions at San Damiano.
 Questions without answers
In a recent interview with Rochester's Catholic Courier, Deacon Dardess explained his approach to ecumenism and dialogue vis a vis Islam by stating that "for now, the discussion itself is more important than the answer."
Yet the point of religion -- any religion -- is truth, i.e., answers. Dialogue and discussion, therefore, must be rooted in the quest for truth. That is why Council fathers at Vatican II taught, "Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false conciliatory approach which harms the purity of Catholic doctrine and obscures its assured genuine meaning."
Unfortunately, Deacon Dardess does not share this commitment, and his writings gloss-over profound theological differences between Islam and Christianity. Those who disagree with his pacific, ahistorical version of Islam are labeled as either fear-mongers or benighted ignoramuses.
And given that this book is onstensibly about religion, Dardess's viewpoint is steeped in faddish materialism. Here is how he explains -- and excuses -- Islamic terrorism: "The cause of violence and terrorism has to be found in political and economic injustice. Any religion -- Christianity included -- can be used to justify violent behavior by those who believe they have no other way to redress wrongs done against them."
In any event, Catholics seeking a more balanced guide to the differences and similarities between their faith and Islam are advised to purchase "Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics" by Daniel Ali and Robert Spencer.
What a pleasure to read
I felt that Mr. Dardess gave a true and acurate portrayal of what the religion is about. This is a book that anyone can read and get an acurate understanding of the religion. As a Muslim I felt for the first time, a non-Muslim truely understands what Islam is all about. What a pleasure to read. What a great book and what a great writer.
A positive look at Islam
If you really want to meet Islam this could be one of the books you read but it must be one among many. I give Deacon Dardess two stars for learning Arabic and and two stars for going to an Islamic Center to get a better understanding of his Muslim neighbors. And then sharing the insights he gained from this hard work with his readers. I hold back one star, because the book lacks an index.
|
