Mark D. Siljander's Blog, page 2
April 13, 2010
“My Brother’s Keeper, Not My Brother’s Killer”
Lighting a Million Candles: Choosing forgiveness, the best medicine!
Date: SUNDAY APRIL 18, 2010
Time: 1:00pm
Location: 8814 Kensington Parkway Chevy Chase, MD 20815
My friend, Dr. Jack Gaines, is one of several special guests speaking at a commemoration for the Rwandan genocide of 1994 this coming weekend, Sunday afternoon April 18. If you are in the Washington DC area I encourage you to attend this important event hosted by Rwanda Restoration Ministries. I endorsed Jack’s recent book, My Brother’s Keeper, Not My Brother’s Killer and his work, and am very glad to share this opportunity with you! More information available here.
"My Brother's Keeper, Not My Brother's Killer"
Lighting a Million Candles: Choosing forgiveness, the best medicine!
Date: SUNDAY APRIL 18, 2010
Time: 1:00pm
Location: 8814 Kensington Parkway Chevy Chase, MD 20815
My friend, Dr. Jack Gaines, is one of several special guests speaking at a commemoration for the Rwandan genocide of 1994 this coming weekend, Sunday afternoon April 18. If you are in the Washington DC area I encourage you to attend this important event hosted by Rwanda Restoration Ministries. I endorsed Jack's recent book,
March 24, 2010
Words out of Context Maintain Harmful Misunderstandings
One of the core ways for misunderstanding to build up is by receiving incomplete information about something someone else has said. I believe this is a big part of the distrust between the Abrahamic faiths, and indeed, many of our broader misunderstandings today. For example, the media can emphasize one particular phrase a person says, and build a completely different story based on that statement than what was intended.
In some cases, we simply lack the information to understand what a...
February 22, 2010
Unpacking Thoughts Regarding “A Deadly Misunderstanding”
The conversation surrounding A Deadly Misunderstanding and the Muslim-Christian divide has been picking up the last few weeks, and we thought it would be great to highlight several bloggers that recently made ADM a focus on their blogs. Seth McBee is fostering an ongoing conversation over at Contend Earnestly regarding Islam and Christianity and made Mark one of his resources for that conversation, starting with his review of A Deadly Misunderstanding and continuing by featuring several of Mark’s YouTube videos.
“This book will stretch anyone who reads it. There is so much “good” in this book and so much that the reader will realize about their own journey towards truth (if they are honestly trying to learn), that it is well worth the read. If you like where you are currently in your understanding of the world and are enjoying what is portrayed in American media, don’t read this book. But, if you want to see what is actually happening elsewhere, what Muslims actually believe, what the Bible actually says in certain points and desire to be stretched, you need to read this book.”
Seth is also involved with supporting an upcoming Muslim-Christian dialogue event at Harambee Church in Renton, WA on March 27.
Richard Dahlstrom is raincitypastor in Seattle, WA. He wrote Digesting the “Deadly Misunderstanding” at his blog Fibonnaci Faith:
“The book is a blend of narrative (Mark’s own expanding web of relationships with Islamic leaders, teachers, and scholars), and theology (Mark’s ever expanding discoveries of common beliefs between Christians and Muslims). I won’t reveal those points of common interest because I think you should take the time to read the book. After all, nearly every nation in which our military is involved in conflict has a sizable Muslim presence. Conventional wisdom, even, would tell us that we should know our enemy. Jesus would tell us that we should love our enemy. Mark will tell us that when we begin to study our enemy, we realize that he might not even BE our enemy, that we perhaps share more in common, than we differ.”
Dan Martin of California recommended A Deadly Misunderstanding as a must-read on his blog Nailing it to the Door…:
“I want to be clear: this is no milquetoast universalist pablum. Siljander is NOT claiming some notion of all roads leading to God. What he’s doing is far more careful and well-thought than that. He is demonstrating the frequency with which fundamental–often violent–differences between the Abrahamic faiths are based on ignorance: not only ignorance of the “other’s” faith, but all too often ignorance of the actual text and context of our own faith and its creeds. In this, he’s coming to a conclusion a Muslim roommate and I (with far less scholarship) came to more than 20 years ago: if both of us and our brothers merely were careful to follow what OUR OWN SCRIPTURES actually said, we’d find a lot of common ground, and at the very least, we couldn’t fight each other.”
All of these reviews kicked off a flurry of comments at their respective blog pages. We really appreciate the level of dialogue and critique that these bloggers are nurturing. These issues run deep and as Seth mentioned, can be difficult to articulate without being misunderstood, “The written word can be misleading and very difficult to convey at times, especially on such touchy subjects as this.” Mark found that this was especially true when attempting to write a book appropriately encouraging and challenging for both a Muslim and Christian audience. We’re happy to have bloggers who are seeing the “heart” of the issue and willing to discuss and dialogue on this new approach for bridge building. This only helps all of us to grow. Thank you.
And from the other side of the world, we are excited to see that Salim Al-Hasso has created a page on his website dedicated to sharing about the work Mark is doing. Salim saw Mark on Al Jazeera at home in Iraq and was moved to make information on his work more widely available. He has gathered an impressive resource page by linking to one Al Jazeera video and various reviews of A Deadly Misunderstanding.
Unpacking Thoughts Regarding "A Deadly Misunderstanding"
The conversation surrounding A Deadly Misunderstanding and the Muslim-Christian divide has been picking up the last few weeks, and we thought it would be great to highlight several bloggers that recently made ADM a focus on their blogs. Seth McBee is fostering an ongoing conversation over at Contend Earnestly regarding Islam and Christianity and made Mark one of his resources for that conversation, starting with his review of A Deadly Misunderstanding and continuing by featuring several of a
February 12, 2010
Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think
Check out the trailer for this documentary, which highlights the very important work done in an extensive Gallup poll of the world's Muslim populations. Mark often refers to this poll in his writing and lectures. Extensive reporting can be found at the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies website. It is now in the running for a Telly Award, you can give it a thumb's up when viewing the video on YouTube. The People's Telly Awards is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and...
January 7, 2010
Why Do You Fear Me?
Every day I open my email inbox and find messages alerting me to the concerns and fears people have towards Muslims and Islam. Such a reality only underscores that we need ways to talk about the fears continually generated and fostered in today's political, economic and cultural climate.
I, along with others, have begun trying to resource this conversation, such as with the Good News Memo I sent out this fall to nearly 100,000 Christian leaders. The Good News Memo explores a strategy of...
December 30, 2009
MAS/ICNA 8th Annual Convention, Chicago, IL
MAS/ICNA 8th Annual Convention
Mark and several friends were able to take part in the Muslim American Society's 8th Annual Convention in Chicago this past weekend. Watch Mark's talk on the panel at his YouTube channel!
A panel of friends and fellow peacemakers was the focus for Saturday's afternoon session hosted by Dr. Abdel Azim Elsiddig, including words from Dean Koldenhoven, former Mayor of Palos Heights, IL; Pastor Bill Devlin of Manhattan Bible Church; Jeff Burns, Founder of Peace on...
December 14, 2009
A Muslim's Perspective on the Allah/God Question
A friend I met in Minneapolis this past summer, Mr. Tamim Saidi, recently sent me a link to his article, My God or Your Lord: Whom Should We Worship? where he offers his experience and perspective as a Muslim speaking on this important question that many ask regarding Islam and Christianity, "Is Allah the same as God?" If you've read A Deadly Misunderstanding, you are familiar with how I answer this question. Though I once believed wholeheartedly that Allah was a false god, through my...
November 11, 2009
The Blame Game: Reflections on Ft. Hood
Once again the country recoils from the violence that occurred last week at Ft. Hood. I am deeply saddened to see this violence once again being linked to Islam, raising concerns against Muslims living in the US and in the military. As always, I hear from my Christian friends, "Why don't we hear condemnation from the Muslims for such horrific acts?" There are many Muslims who denounce the violence every time it occurs, as demonstrated by Muslim leaders in a press conference on November 5...
