reply to mark steyn
Mark Steyn is a colunnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. He recently wrote an article regarding people of Muslim faith (click on Facing Down a Culture Link below to read his article). I then wrote a reply to him, which you can read below.
Facing Down a Culture
Dear Mark,
My name is Michael Hidalgo, and I am an evangelical pastor from Michigan. I recently read your article in the Chicago-Sun Times entitled, Facing down a culture where they talk like crazies on March 26, 2006. I must say that I could scarcely believe what I was reading.
You completely disrespected and spewed venom on the religion of Islam. If nothing else respecting those of Muslim faith as men and women who are in the image of God is, at the very least, a basic rule for living. Referring to their holy month, as “Ramadan-a-ding-dong” is rather immature, coupled with your open ridicule of al-Azhar University who are teaching their students things that make “the average Ivy League nuthouse look like a beacon of sanity.” I wonder, could you tell me exactly what those of Muslim faith are learning there? Are you able to articulate this? Surely you would not write something so mean spirited without knowing what you were attacking!
You then attempt to strengthen your argument by using General Sir Charles Napier as an “impeccably multicultural” example. He decided that when he did not like what those of another culture and faith were doing by killing widows, he would kill them for doing it. Is this really a good idea? Don’t kill or I will kill you? Nothing changed their hearts, rather they stopped because they did not want to be killed. My prayer is that we would not become a monster in order to defeat a monster.
How can we be angry with those of Muslim faith who became angry that the West has mocked their holiest figure? Have you forgotten the ugliness of the Christians in America when the film The Last Temptation of Christ was released? You accuse thousands of Muslims “around the world” of protesting “in the usual restrained manner: rioting, torching, killing, etc.” However there are more than 1 billion Muslims worldwide, and if a few thousand became angry and did what you said they did, then I would say that millions acted in a civil manner. You also suggest that we are always civil, even though they are some who label themselves Christian who murder abortion doctors. Should we characterize Christianity by those who do such things? I would suggest that we do not characterize ourselves like this, neither then should we characterize those of Muslim faith by the actions of a few.
One of Aesop’s Fables that seems worth sharing is the story of the sun and the wind. They agreed to a contest as to who could influence the shepherd to remove his cloak. The wind went first and blew as hard as he could, but the shepherd pulled the cloak tighter to his body. It was then the suns turn, and she shined brightly and warmly on the shepherd. He removed his cloak, and basked in the sunshine. Mr. Steyn I ask you, is this article a gust of wind, or a ray of sunshine on the cloaks of people of Muslim faith?
Sadly your article contained much ignorance and little grace. From the beginning your blind fear of the Islamic faith set you up only for unnecessary ridicule resulting in the demonizing of millions of good people (your accusing Islam of being an extremist and violent religion is tantamount to saying the Christianity is predicated on White Supremacy). It is articles like these that give understandable reason for Muslims to feel as though the West hates them. The next time, you decide to write anything about the Islamic world, I would suggest listening to a person of Muslim faith. Hear their thoughts and their hearts, rather than soaking up the latest biased report on television
Sincerely,
Michael Hidalgo