By Mateen Elass, on his personal blog.
Five years ago, I wrote a blog about the PCUSA decision to normalize homosexuality and predicted that one of the fall-outs of this error would be the inability of PCUSA missionaries to reach the Muslim world. Since Muslims are taught within their own Scriptures that homosexual behavior is sinful, they would quite naturally conclude that any group espousing that homosexual practice is fine with God would have nothing trustworthy to say on any other spiritual topic.
I had not imagined five years ago that this homophilial stance of the PCUSA and other mainline denominations could produce further bitter fruit in Christian-Muslim relations. But it has.
In an interview with Ishaq Akintola, an African professor of Muslim Eschatology and Director of Muslim Rights Concern (“Islam has no age barrier for marriage — MURIC Director, Akintola,”Punch, March 6, 2016), the professor is asked to defend the morality of Muslim men marrying young girls. His response is that Islam has no prescribed age barriers, and that those outside Islam have no business judging something happening within Islamic practice — they should, as Jesus told his disciples, judge not lest they be judged. But his second defense is that Christians should look to their own house before they criticize the houses of others. Specifically, he cites the fact that churches are now conducting same-sex weddings. “So, instead of paying attention to marriages conducted among Muslims, Christians should do something about gay marriages inside churches” (emphasis added). In essence, Mr. Akintola is saying to the Western (“Christian”) world, “Who are you to pillory us for something that our religious law allows? At least we still see marriage as between members of the opposite sex. But you allow the perversion of homosexuality in your churches and even celebrate it with a marriage ceremony. You have no moral high ground to stand on — we have no obligation to listen to you. In fact, your practices are reprehensible before God while ours have divine sanction.”
A second helping of bitter fruit was served through remarks made by Dr. Ahmed al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam and Sheikh of Al-Azhar University (the head spokesman of Islamic theology at Sunni Islam’s premier institution of higher learning) while he was at a conference at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta on February 23rd of this year.
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As a veteran of 3 military encounters with radical or political Islam, Somalia, Gulf War 1 and Iraq. I must say that up close and personal, they are more than willing to die for their version of religion, culture and identity. The 2nd Marine Division were most happy to facilitate those unions with Allah, and obligate that process. That said, I think the whole “clash of Civilizations” narrative can be oversimplified for partisan purposes, but the central point remains the irreconcilability of traditional religious and tribal cultures with Western concept of individual autonomy, independence, and, moral relativism to chose a term.
As pertains to the role and place of LGBTs in the Muslim Middle East I must say that for the liberal West/liberal religious sects, in its insularity and self-absorption, obsesses about who can get married, and punishments for those who for religious reasons object. In ISIS controlled Syria they throw LGBTs off building or burn them alive. In Iran they hang them. So what does the so called liberal PCUSA activists have to say about that? Not much really.
In fact Obama could not wait to do business with them, all cheered on by those champions of LGBT rights, the PCUSA, most notably its Stated Clerk. When it comes to all things Middle East and Muslims for the PCUSA it is about demonization of Israel and empowerment of Hamas 24/7. Ask Gays in Gaza how they are getting along these days.