Christianity and Islam: A Reply to the President

In his remarks at a recent prayer breakfast, President Obama insisted on creating a moral equivalence between Christianity and Islam. President Obama said: "And lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim crow all too often were justified in the name of Christ."

The outcry against his comments has been swift and justified. The problem with his remarks is that there is no moral equivalence between the terrorist acts of Islam and slavery practiced by Christians in the antebellum South. One is the logical outworking of a religious system, the other is an illogical perversion of it.

Violent Muslims believe that their version of Islam is more faithful to the essence of Islam and the Quran. And they are right. Their position is supported by the Quran, the founding of Islam and the long tradition of Islamic conquest. The image of Muhammed as a warrior is central to Muslim theology and practice. The most common image of Muhammed is of the prophet brandishing a sword. Atrocities such as the enslavement and rape of Yezidi girls, the burning of churches, and the burning alive of captives is perfectly consistent with Muslim history and theology.
On the other hand, Christ himself told Peter to put away his sword. Violent Jihad is one of the five pillars of Islam. Love thy neighbor as thy self is one of the two great commandments of Christianity. While Islam has always been accompanied by slavery and war, wherever Christianity has spread violence and slavery have ceased.

So, what about the President's assertions? Is Christianity rightfully indicted by the Crusades, the Inquisition, slavery and racism? Lets deal with each in turn. First, the Crusades were a long time ago. The first was proclaimed by Pope Urban II in 1095. Doesn't it say something about the moral superiority of Christianity that in order to find anything to indict it, you have to go back a thousand years? To indict Islam you need go back no further than yesterday! Still, history is history. Were the Crusades an evil that is to be laid at the feet of the church? First, understand that the Crusades were defensive, not offensive in nature. The Crusades began as a response to the military conquest and persecution of Christians by Islam. Second, the Crusades were arguably more about protecting trade routes than about religion. No one was trying to convert anyone else at the battle of Ascalon. Finally, I would point out that the Crusades did not come to an end because Islam sued for peace. Rather, Christians brought the Crusades to an end because they recognized that making war in the name of Christianity was inconsistent with the teachings of Christ!

So, what about the Inquisition? Well, as an evangelical let me point out that the Inquisition was an exclusively Catholic affair. From our theological standpoint we would argue that Catholicism is a blend of Christianity and pagan beliefs and practices. We should not be surprised that pagans and secularists would torture and kill their adversaries. Also, during the time of the Inquisition, the Catholic church was famous for its secular nature. Many, if not most people, were Christian in name only. There is a famous saying that is all too relevant here. "The sins of hypocrites cannot be charged to the church." Just because a person calls himself a Christian does not make him one. The Inquisition was not carried on by genuine Christians. Indeed, true Christians were usually the ones being persecuted by the Inquisition.

As for slavery, history shows that wherever Christianity has spread, slavery has disappeared. Christianity is penicillin for the infection of slavery. What do we make then of slavery in England and North America in the 18th and 19th centuries? William Wilberforce was an English evangelical and politician who opposed slavery. Indeed he is widely credited with being the major force behind the end of slavery in England. Wilberforce spoke of Christianity as a tide that rises and falls in a society. As the tide of Christianity fell in England, the society became more amenable to atrocities such as slavery. In fact, he identified the decline of Christian doctrine as an influence in British society as the chief cause of slavery. Thus, slavery was not the product of Christianity, but the result of its declining influence. Time does not allow me to go into detail, but evangelicals were responsible for the abolitionist movement in both England and America. As for those who attempted to use the Bible to justify slavery, their burden was to overcome Christianity's historical and theological predisposition against the practice, a battle which they ultimately lost. Islam and Christianity are not equally guilty of atrocities. One is the logical outworking of a religious system, the other is an illogical perversion of it.

Also, let me say a word about the distinction between "moderate" and "radical" Islam. Both the media and the current administration make the same mistake. The difference is not in kind, but in extent. "Moderates" and "Radicals" do not represent different kinds of Islam. Rather they represent different levels of commitment to the essentials of their religion. The Radical is simply more Muslim than the Moderate. WE see the same phenomenon in Christianity. Liberal Christians do not represent a different branch of the faith. By denying the fundamentals of their faith, they are merely less Christian than conservative believers. For this reason, encouraging Moderate Islam gets us nowhere. It is like saying we prefer those who have a milder case of Ebola over those who have a worse case. In the end, it's still Ebola.  

Having said all this, should we treat our Muslim neighbors with suspicion and disdain? Certainly not. Likewise, we should defend the freedom of every American to practice their faith, as long as they do so peacefully. As believers we must view Muslims as potential recipients of grace, just as we are. We must lovingly offer the gospel of Jesus Christ as the only hope for salvation. But as a nation, we need to recognize that Christianity is far more compatible with freedom, democracy and peace than any other religion - especially Islam.