Rob Asghar

Author of Lessons from the Holy Wars: A Pakistani-American Odyssey

Posted: August 23, 2010

What Would Jesus Do Regarding Muslim Americans? You’d Be Surprised

Right-wing demagogues are attempting to lasso Christians as they head to the polls this fall, using Islamophobia as a powerful rope.

But what would Jesus do, if He dropped in to discuss the upcoming elections? Specifically, what would He say about and to our growing Muslim-American population? Let me speculate, based on over 15 years of studying Protestant theology and many years of lay service in evangelical churches.

I suspect Jesus would first surprise many well-intentioned people on the left. He wouldn’t launch an endless series of interfaith breakfasts aimed at highlighting shared ground among the Abrahamic traditions.

Just as He took on devout figures in the Jewish tradition, He would ask tough questions about whether many devout Muslims, with their myriad and sometimes cumbersome rules and rituals, are straining out gnats while swallowing camels. He would challenge viewpoints and smash many precious idols and a priori assumptions. He would, in short, tick some people off.

But He would also be frank with those of His followers who ignore His command to love and bless and be patient with outsiders. He would point out that, if someone truly is their enemy, that merely triggers their special duty to bless enemies rather than persecute them. He would remind His believers that it’s only by their doing so that they mark themselves as being a part of His distinctive Kingdom.

And if they refuse to love in such a costly way, or if they rationalize how such a commandment is “unreasonable” and not meant to be taken seriously, He would declare (“with a mouth like a sword”) that they have no place in His Kingdom or His plans.

I suspect the Lord wouldn’t smile upon presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who has screeched about how Islamic sharia law and gay marriage are twin devils out to undo Western culture. Jesus would likely ask Gingrich a few questions about why one ex-wife complains that he pushed through their divorce terms while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer; and why he seems to have a habit of proposing to one woman while already married to another. “Are you sure,” Jesus would ask, “that it’s the gays and the Muslims who threaten the way of life that you’ve been championing?”

Jesus would acknowledge that the American government has a legitimate role to play in looking out for its citizens. But He would tell Christian Americans that, while the Sword belongs to the government, the Cross — that symbol of suffering and redemption — is intended for these Christians in their role as His Church. He would then rebuke those followers who are more enamored of the Sword than the Cross, more enamored of exacting justice than of reconciling humanity. Choosing jingoism and nativism above service to His commandments, He would say, is nothing less than an act of idolatry and unbelief.

Leave the government to its sword, He would say, and take up your cross. He would note dryly that American-style consumerism isn’t what He died for on His own Cross, and he would ask His followers to stop engaging in culture wars over mosques and sharia.

The Lord would remind American Christians that, while it’s wonderful to wave the flag, you shouldn’t take your earthly citizenship too seriously. He would quote his own apostle Paul, who reminded Christian citizens of a previous great empire that their primary citizenship was in Heaven, not Rome.

He would explain to Christian Americans that this means that Ground Zero is not hallowed ground: only the Kingdom of Heaven is. And that means that His followers’ business isn’t to marginalize their Muslim fellow citizens, but to care for them in a manner that no one outside His Kingdom would.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-asghar/wwjd-to-muslimamericans-y_b_688313.html