| FrontPageMag.com | By Robert Spencer | By Hugh Fitzgerald | Books | Jihad Watch | Islam 101 | Qur'an Blog | Raymond Ibrahim | Robert Spencer |  |
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
In a Western society, Ann Holmes Redding is a person who has developed an odd set of beliefs that is heretical to both of her religions. In an Islamic state, she would be both that, and also marked for death for blasphemy. Not only would she have to choose, but having professed the Islamic faith, abandoning the Islamic religion would put her life in jeopardy.
By contrast, the Episcopal church beyond her supervising bishop may -- and should -- challenge her right to continue in their priesthood, but will not, she should note, challenge her right to continue living.
"I am both Muslim and Christian," by Janet I. Tu for The Seattle Times, with thanks to Sheik Yer'Mami:
Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.
On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.
She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.
Redding, who until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for more than 20 years. Now she's ready to tell people that, for the last 15 months, she's also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved.
Her announcement has provoked surprise and bewilderment in many, raising an obvious question: How can someone be both a Christian and a Muslim?
But it has drawn other reactions too. Friends generally say they support her, while religious scholars are mixed: Some say that, depending on how one interprets the tenets of the two faiths, it is, indeed, possible to be both. Others consider the two faiths mutually exclusive.
"There are tenets of the faiths that are very, very different," said Kurt Fredrickson, director of the doctor of ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "The most basic would be: What do you do with Jesus?"
Indeed, according to the New Testament:
Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. (1 John 3:22-23)
But the Qur'an says:
For it is not consonant with the majesty of (Allah) Most Gracious that He should beget a son. (19:92, see also 4:171, 19:35)
With that, it should be obvious to Redding that she can't have both. The article continues:
Christianity has historically regarded Jesus as the son of God and God incarnate, both fully human and fully divine. Muslims, though they regard Jesus as a great prophet, do not see him as divine and do not consider him the son of God.
"I don't think it's possible" to be both, Fredrickson said, just like "you can't be a Republican and a Democrat."
Redding, who will begin teaching the New Testament as a visiting assistant professor at Seattle University this fall, has a different analogy: "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both."
Redding doesn't feel she has to resolve all the contradictions. People within one religion can't even agree on all the details, she said. "So why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam?
Some "details" are pretty important.
"At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need."
She says she felt an inexplicable call to become Muslim, and to surrender to God — the meaning of the word "Islam."
"It wasn't about intellect," she said. "All I know is the calling of my heart to Islam was very much something about my identity and who I am supposed to be.
"I could not not be a Muslim."
Redding's situation is highly unusual. Officials at the national Episcopal Church headquarters said they are not aware of any other instance in which a priest has also been a believer in another faith. They said it's up to the local bishop to decide whether such a priest could continue in that role.
Redding's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, says he accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, and that he finds the interfaith possibilities exciting. Her announcement, first made through a story in her diocese's newspaper, hasn't caused much controversy yet, he said.
Some local Muslim leaders are perplexed.
Being both Muslim and Christian — "I don't know how that works," said Hisham Farajallah, president of the Islamic Center of Washington.
But Redding has been embraced by leaders at the Al-Islam Center of Seattle, the Muslim group she prays with.
"Islam doesn't say if you're a Christian, you're not a Muslim," said programming director Ayesha Anderson. "Islam doesn't lay it out like that."
Redding believes telling her story can help ease religious tensions, and she hopes it can be a step toward her dream of creating an institute to study Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
"I think this thing that's happened to me can be a sign of hope," she said.
Read it all.
Posted by Marisol at June 17, 2007 8:06 PM
Print this entry
| Email this entry
| Digg this
| del.icio.us
Silly bint.
Posted by: Mike_W![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 17, 2007 8:25 PM
Severe case of schizophrenia.
Posted by: US_infidel at June 17, 2007 8:30 PM
So does this mean she'll have to kill herself for being an infidel?
Posted by: paradox at June 17, 2007 8:34 PM
Weird, just plain weird.
Posted by: bigcatgirl13106 at June 17, 2007 8:36 PM
Well we now know who was asleep in theology class, but given Muslim acceptance of dishonesty in support of Islam perhaps she just wants to keep her cushy job.
Posted by: Jerry M at June 17, 2007 8:37 PM
I hope this sort of stupidity is limited to the ECUSA.
This is the church that has Bishops saying that the Koran is divinely inspired, so it only makes sense that their priests be just as confused.
at June 17, 2007 8:47 PM
Christianity and Islam are mutually exclusive, Mohammad made sure of that. This priest is an embarrassment to the Christian community. What is even more embarrassing is the Bishop.
That this priest would last a week in her parish means here flock is an embarrassment that they would even allow her leadership.
This is a sign of how lost the American Anglican Church is.
Posted by: James Martel at June 17, 2007 9:10 PM
This being a non-sectarian site, it is difficult to know where to begin on this one. Perhaps it is best to just avoid the myriad scriptures of both texts negating this possibility (as Ms. Redding clearly has), and to address the psychopathology of these individuals that profess to have seen something within these traditions missed by both idiots and intellectuals alike for well over a millenium.
Are they:
1) massively self-deluded ego-maniacs completely divorced from reality? Or,
2) pathological liars with a cloaked agenda, who
a) think we are too stupid to notice
b) think we are too polite to say any thing critical
c) think we are too impotent to provoke appropriate ridicule and/or their decommissioning?
at June 17, 2007 9:11 PM
Rev Redding is just playing safe. If she dies from the Christian side, she will see God in heaven; if she dies from the Muslim side, she will see Alah in hell (where he lives). This is a win-win situation ... for her only.
Posted by: calatrava at June 17, 2007 9:12 PM
Send both her and her excited bishop to Saudi Arabia and let's see what the mullahs think about it. It should be fun.
Posted by: SerbInfidel at June 17, 2007 9:38 PM
Rev. Redding may want to pray like a Muslim..but, rest assured, if her bishop allows her to, she will stay on the ECUSA payroll. After all, Islam has few, if any, jobs for female Muslim clerics. However, in the Episcopal Church, Rev. Redding will continue to receive a salary, health benefits, a retirement pension, some all-expense paid conferences expound on her new life as a Muslim/Christian and all sorts of other Anglican perks. Can a book deal be far off, as the good priest pens her apologetics for her new-found hybrid faith?
Posted by: maryrose at June 17, 2007 9:39 PM
Lol and I thought I've seen everything. This woman is going to get a huge surprise someday when a muslim makes her choose between islam and christianity.
"I don't think it's possible" to be both, Fredrickson said, just like "you can't be a Republican and a Democrat."
-- Bush got away with doing this...
Posted by: mrockroll1969 at June 17, 2007 9:42 PM
Bipolar, or just a buffoon?
Failing both sides of the issue.
The 2-dimensional mind at its finest.
Posted by: profitsbeard at June 17, 2007 9:49 PM
No doubt she is a Buddhist and a Hindu and a Zaroastrian also.
Sounds like puke in a bucket:
http://sheikyermami.com/2007/06/17/nutroot-priestess-i-am-both-muslim-and-christian/
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at June 17, 2007 9:55 PM
A Christian who denies Christ and is compelled to kill himself, WOW.
Posted by: KAOSKTRL at June 17, 2007 9:56 PM
I believe Priestess Redding was misquoted. Here's her real quote: "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both a fool and an idiot."
Posted by: Seymour Paine at June 17, 2007 10:16 PM
It must be a west coast thing....read on..
The Weekly MB Review
> An Exclusive Newsletter for MuslimBridges.org
>
>
> Announcements
>
> Something exciting happened last Sunday, May 6, 2007 at Shivela Middle
> School, in Murrieta, CA, hosted by United Church of the Valley. This was
> our first Islam presentation in front of a church congregation right after
> their Sunday Service. At the end of the 45 minutes presentation, we made
> a few points, asked a few questions; hands were raised one after another.
> At the end, asked all the people who raised their hands consistently to
> stand up and take their Shahada. More than 1/2 the congregation stood up
> and took shahada - the first pillar of Islam, and declaration of faith
> "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His messenger" -, including
> the minister's wife! It was astonishing as to how easy it was for people
> to take shahada once they find out the truth and beauty of Islam.
> Interestingly enough, this event was mostly presented by a young Muslim
> convert from the local youth group in his early 20s! Now what....
at June 17, 2007 10:21 PM
Ann Holmes Redding said "I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I'm both an American of African descent and a woman. I'm 100 percent both."
Being of American-African descent and a woman are genetic traits. Neither mutually exclusive from each other!!!
Being Christian and Muslim are philisophical and religious veiws, AND ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE!!
More likely she is just a multicultural dhimmi which is extremely inclusive of moronic and insulting behaviours. Or as Stalin would say "a useful tool".
Posted by: senor doeboy at June 17, 2007 10:55 PM
She was "profoundly moved."
I would have suggested a bowel movement would have cured her at that time. It's too late now!
Posted by: credit man at June 17, 2007 11:01 PM
I don't know whether I should laugh or cry. This woman must be suffering from some kind of mental disorder.
Posted by: non-redneck at June 17, 2007 11:23 PM
One should not be too surprised at this stupid & illogical behavior. Just about any sort of insanity can be induced by religious fervor. Most irrationality gets contained within a certain area in most people but, like a cancer, it sometimes can metastasize to other areas of thought so that any illogic can seem good.
Posted by: FM at June 17, 2007 11:41 PM
Ignorance and stupidity to an extreme degree, and, of course, considerable psychic disarray. The psychically marginal among the Infidels have always been fair game for Muslim indoctrination; she's not the only catch. And as one who no doubt considers herself doubly "oppressed" as "a woman" and an "African-American," two elements in her makeup which she stresses, she may be prepared to interpret Islam, or what little she knows of it (perhaps a reading of Ayaan Hirsi Ali could set her straight -- but do you think she's ever heard of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, or any of the other articulate people born and raised up in Islam, who now recoil from it in dismay and horror?), as a vehicle for the expression of alienation from (choose one: The System, Kapitalism, Amerika, The Man).
No doubt, however, that the hijab and the collar (oh, god, I've just supplied some idiot with a possible title. Yes, I can see it climbing the best-seller lists now, by Karen Armstrong or Diana Eck or someone of similar fatuity, proud author of "In Hijab and Collar: The True Story of How One Woman Realized That God and Allah Are One" -- available for campus and corporate appearances, both to read from her work which conveys a message both of Uplift and of Upbeat, or an Upbeat Message That Provides Uplift, or An Unplifting Message That Leaves One Upmeat.
Is there Help for Modern Man?
Nah, I don't think so. And not for Modern Woman either.
We are hoist by our own petard -- the petard of believing that everyone and everything is just about the same, and equal or even more than equal, and that everyone has a right to have their views taken seriously, no matter how ignorant the person holding or expressing those views.
It isn't right. It's wrong. And it is both cruel and criminal to degrade the democratic dogma in such a way.
Posted by: Hugh at June 17, 2007 11:50 PM
"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
Posted by: interestinconundrum at June 17, 2007 11:52 PM
She's no more a priest than my next door neighbor's dog. Who cares what the nitwit says. A female priesthood is a theological impossibility even if Anglican orders were valid in the first place.
Posted by: Lepanto at June 17, 2007 11:57 PM
Just stranger than fiction ....
Posted by: bonncaruso at June 17, 2007 11:57 PM
Bonncaruso,
Fiction has to make sense. ~S. Clements
~That which moved her hither, may remove her hence. ~Apologies to Shakespeare
Posted by: Shakey_Premise at June 18, 2007 12:08 AM
"Islam doesn't say if you're a Christian, you're not a Muslim," said programming director Ayesha Anderson. "Islam doesn't lay it out like that."
* 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 ** 33:21 *
Jews and Christians that Day, will be humiliated, downcast, scorched by the burning fire, while they are made to drink from a boiling hot spring.
Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at June 18, 2007 12:24 AM
To become a muslim you have to deny the immaculate conception of Jesus and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on Pentacost. To be a Christian one has to consider the New Testiment the complete word and all that is needed. This silly woman does not appear to know either the Bible or the Koran well enough to make a choice. Ignorance is bliss...why not be both. I've considered the Episcopal church dead for many years. This silly woman obviously wants it buried. She is blind to he own contept to Christianity.
Posted by: never_submit at June 18, 2007 12:31 AM
This kind of brings up one of my favorite sayings: There are two kinds of people in the world: Either one likes Mayonaise or one likes Miracle whip. It is rare to find a person that likes both, and frankly I have found such people untrusworthy. I wonder if this Rev. Ann Holmes Redding is one of thoes rare people that likes both 100%. I can hear her saying "I like Miracle whip 100% and Mayonaise 100%." That way no spreads are offended.
Posted by: never_submit at June 18, 2007 12:38 AM
Pish Posh. This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of!!! You guys are being such Dualists!!!
Of COURSE someone can be both a Muslim and a Christian at the same time. Don't be silly!
Posted by: ThinkForYourself at June 18, 2007 12:42 AM
I get the distinct feeling that this woman is full of crap. Here's the proof
http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/images/annehr.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/profiles/holmes-redding&h=119&w=100&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=7r4IhdOi8R7HhM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=74&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAnn%2BHolmes%2BRedding%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG">http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/images/annehr.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/profiles/holmes-redding&h=119&w=100&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=7r4IhdOi8R7HhM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=74&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAnn%2BHolmes%2BRedding%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG
at June 18, 2007 1:01 AM
http://www.pollutioninpeople.org/profiles/holmes-redding
My mistake! Ooops.
Posted by: Jihadtobejoking at June 18, 2007 1:02 AM
ThinkForYourself-
Clearly your "name" is meaningless, because "thinking" ("for yourself" or anyone else) is based on reality, not empty wishes.
Mohammad declared Jesus a fraud as far as the Christian understanding of him goes. No Crucifixion, no Resurrection, no Messiah.
So, to be a Muslim means to be the opposite of a Christian.
And vice versa.
Unless you're schizoid, man.
(It is the 21st Century, after all.)
Posted by: profitsbeard at June 18, 2007 1:06 AM
You can't have your head and lose it.
Posted by: Dsinc at June 18, 2007 1:16 AM
Hugh,
Agreed, that would be horrible. Please copyright the title, "The Hijab and the Collar", immediately; likewise, please secure the URL www.hijabandcollar.com. This must end here.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen at June 18, 2007 1:26 AM
Yes - just to back up profitsbeard.
Christians - and reputable secular historians - say that a Jewish man called Joshua (Jesus) of Nazareth was crucified 'under Pontius Pilate' (an independently historically attested Roman governor) in Jerusalem of Judea sometime around AD 33.
Muslims say that 'Isa' (of no particular time or place - in the Quranic stories about him you will find nary a mention of Judea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Bethany, Rome, Pilate, Herod, Caiaphas, Pharisees, Sadducees, nor any of the other gritty down-to-earth checkable geographical and historical specificities with which the gospels are chock-full) was NOT crucified. I think they argue that somebody who wasn't him got crucified by mistake. For this assertion, made HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER than the Christian, Jewish and secular texts which mention Jesus, the Crucifixion, and Christian belief in a Crucified Jesus, the Muslims have not one shred of evidence. The thing is pure fantasy, driven by their idolisation of Power which means they must make the priori assumption that crucifixion can't possibly happen to 'prophets'.
If this lady wants to call herself a Christian in any meaningful sense of the word at all, she HAS to say Jesus Christ was crucified. If she wants to call herself a Muslim she has to say he wasn't. She cannot have it both ways. The two propositions are mutually exclusive.
Her bishop, if he had any sense at all, should confront her on this one and politely but firmly request and require her to step down from her post.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at June 18, 2007 1:57 AM
If only we had many more like her-they could be sent to iraq/iran/afghanistan/darfur-heck even to saudi and syria oops nearly forgot palestine to show them the error of their ways
Actually we have idiots in the uk also and what amazes me is the tendency to give them media time
at June 18, 2007 2:27 AM
parodox...she may be forced to do that...who know's!
She has a split personality???
I can imagine her brains is noodles. She may not know which direction she going without a compass.
at June 18, 2007 2:57 AM
Assalamau Laikum all,
Clearly this woman has the makings of a very good wuslim....more power to her elbows (and knees).
Either that or she's got a muslim man on the side...(perhaps via a mutta) ...I don't know if she can have male relations ass a priestess...christianity is wierd like that. It would certainly explain a lot to me....LOL.
Posted by: Naseem at June 18, 2007 4:35 AM
The interfaith possibilites will become even more exciting when she becomes a Christian/Muslim/Satanist/Atheist.
"Why should I have to reconcile the differences between all of Atheism and all of Christianity? I feel like they are generally compatible, and that's good enough for me."
The porch light is on, but no-one is home.
Posted by: special_guest at June 18, 2007 4:36 AM
Naseem, please try to control your use of obscene language. Or did you mean "donkey"?
Posted by: special_guest at June 18, 2007 4:38 AM
This poor deluded woman.
I am talking about the Minister.
But heck it applies to Naseem too.
Posted by: payingattention at June 18, 2007 4:46 AM
Sounds like she got her chocolate in her peanut butter.
Or is it her peanut butter in her chocolate.
Posted by: Shy Guy at June 18, 2007 5:55 AM
"Clearly this woman has the makings of a very good wuslim....more power to her elbows (and knees)."
Posted by: Naseem
"...no doubt this will be the position (on her knees and elbows on the groung) she will be in when the Islamic cleric comes a'calling..."
she will say , "come here, big boy"..
at June 18, 2007 6:35 AM
Assalamau Laikum exsgtbrown,
Now come on Sgt, I know that Sargents in the army of the Amerike could be sex starved....but still you must stop salivating at the prospect of imagining a naked white priestess only wearing a black scarf on her hands and knees wanting to be bitch slapped by A brillo bearded fellow
....Alhumdullaha !!!... stop it!
Posted by: Naseem at June 18, 2007 7:03 AM
She is just ignorant. The thesis of Christianity cannot be reconciled with the antithesis of Islam. No matter how much she believes her revelation that she is both Moslem and Christian, it will not save her from being raped, enslaved or murdered. She better have her only prayer in her new religion, the shehada. She better combine her new prayer with monastic silence or she is subject to allah's known fate.
Posted by: David England at June 18, 2007 7:16 AM
The ignorance is astounding!
Of course, the real litmus test of Redding's wondrous new cross-confessional identity is whether or not she'd be allowed to slime her way into Mecca! Doubtful.
I guess that at least for a nanosecond I was relieved that Absurd Annie's not a United Methodist. What would it really matter, though? The mainline Protestant "leadership" in the US have become such complete disciples of goofy transnational progressivism that a "Muslim" Episcopal/Methodist/Lutheran/Church o' Christ cleric would almost be a yawn to those of us who long ago became disheartened by our sects' mushy multicultural sellout(s).
The only bright side is that stories and personalities such as these serve to further illuminate the fissures that exist within our endangered Western culture (at so many levels). Which side will you stand on? The choice becomes clearer by the day.
at June 18, 2007 7:21 AM
Further evidence of the un-Christian stances the Episcopal Church has taken resulting in the splitting off of more orthodox congregations who have placed themselves under an African bishop.
What exactly does this woman know about Christianity? I'd say she knows diddly squat. I'm guessing though that that's the problem...she doesn't know Christ.
Allah is not God and and muhammed was no prophet.
Posted by: eve_anne_gelical at June 18, 2007 7:47 AM
Hold on, have we found at last a moderate Muslim?
Posted by: Daffersd at June 18, 2007 7:48 AM
OK. I'm a long-time reader, first time poster here (as of today).
After reading "Its" posts on the topic at hand, does anybody else get the feeling that our dear Naseem may be a VERY culturally/sexually conflicted adolescent living in his/"her" parents' basement somewhere in Dearborn?
Oh, "Naseem", does Mommy know you wear her hijab 'n' heels when she's out??
Like, Allahu Akbar, baby!
Posted by: Sininen at June 18, 2007 7:54 AM
This is not difficult at all for me as both Redding and her ‘bishop’ are heretics pure and simple. What is so tragic is that their twisted theologies will inevitably affect others under their evil influence. You simply cannot be a ‘Christian’ and not accept Jesus as The Christ (John 3:16, 14:6).
Posted by: descendantofacrusader at June 18, 2007 8:01 AM
Well, Jihadtobejoking, your first link has explained it all: "learning deficits" was an acknowledged symptom of this chemical-addled brain!
Whatever.
And welcome, Sinenen. Yes, the humor of seeing that "our Naseems" knows bitch-slapped rather belies her stance as a widowed Ahmadi resident of Pakistan. Wonder why she/he/it chose to be something that's just barely above Infidel, though...
at June 18, 2007 9:18 AM
Well, Jihadtobejoking, your first link has explained it all: "learning deficits" was an acknowledged symptom of this chemical-addled brain!
Whatever.
And welcome, Sinenen. Yes, the humor of seeing that "our Naseems" knows bitch-slapped rather belies her stance as a widowed Ahmadi resident of Pakistan. Wonder why she/he/it chose to be something that's just barely above Infidel, though...
at June 18, 2007 9:18 AM
It is written in Matthew 6:24 Jesus said "No man can serve two masters..." No woman can either.
Posted by: Timur at June 18, 2007 9:23 AM
"At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need."
______________
No.. beyond the belief in Monotheism, the belief in Jesus as the Son of God / Fully Man and Fully God, to be basic to Christianity. On the other side of the fence, the dis-belief that God had a Son, that is that Jesus is NOT Fully God, but only Fully man, is at the heart of Islam. So no, the two religions are NOT compatible at the most basic level.
However, I'm sure the feel-good Christians, media, will run to her cause and champion her for being "open minded." I might add.. also dumb as a pile of bricks on an intellectual and theological level. Sad that she has been in a position of power in the Anglican Church.
Posted by: Monkeywho at June 18, 2007 10:45 AM
Her one hand wants to blow her fellow Christians and herself up and the other hand wants to forgive them and herself.
Wouldn't this be called a split personality? How can she follow islam and Christianity? My mind just went into a spasm over this thought. She has not read the koran or the hadiths because if she did she would know that it is one or the other and not both.
I hope someone gives her a book on Mohammed soon so she can find out what kind of a murdering thug he really was.
Posted by: R_not at June 18, 2007 11:18 AM
"It wasn't about intellect," she said.
Got that right. Twit!
Posted by: SandiM at June 18, 2007 11:37 AM
"So why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam?"
Interesting word order here. Wasn't she a Christian first? Wouldn't she have to reconcile Islam with Christianity?
This would seem to indicate what she considers the base,(Islam) and what has to be compared to that base.(Christianity)
at June 18, 2007 11:43 AM
Naseem, funny how your effort at modesty to exsgtbrown resulted in you writing something much more graphic and offensive.
Frankly, I'm not surprised at your inconsistency or your inability to recognize the irony here.
Back to school for more bitch-slappin', grasshopper...
Posted by: Miss_Anthrope at June 18, 2007 12:43 PM
Naseem, funny how your effort at modesty to exsgtbrown resulted in you writing something much more graphic and offensive.
Frankly, I'm not surprised at your inconsistency or your inability to recognize the irony here.
Back to school for more bitch-slappin', grasshopper...
Posted by: Miss_Anthrope at June 18, 2007 12:46 PM
Naseem, funny how your effort at modesty to exsgtbrown resulted in you writing something much more graphic and offensive.
Frankly, I'm not surprised at your inconsistency or your inability to recognize the irony here.
Back to school for more bitch-slappin', grasshopper...
Posted by: Miss_Anthrope at June 18, 2007 12:46 PM
It is not appropriate to refer to any woman as a priest in Christianity. Only heretics have allowed women to become "priests". A woman cannot function properly as a priest in Christianity.
In the ancient times women were "priestesses" within the pagan cults. You will never find a woman who is a priest within Judaism, and Christianity has its roots in Judaism.
The actions of this particular woman and her bishop are to me further proof that women do not belong in the priesthood. It appears to me that Redding is either mentally defective, or she has absolutely no proper theological background prior to her heretic ordination.
If her "bishop" had any proper understanding of both Christianity and of Islam then he should know that this woman should be stripped of her clerical status and denounced as a heretic (that is she should be cast out of the Christian church). There is no way that she can function in both of these capacities and she is deluded if she thinks that it is possible.
Posted by: OzzieAussie at June 19, 2007 6:02 AM
profitsbeard, I was being sarcastic. My humble apologies!
Posted by: ThinkForYourself at June 19, 2007 8:46 AM
Western whitie, a priest no less, joins third world pagan ideology. Pagans confused. Spanner in the works. Whilst we won't miss her, the pagans now have a part-time weirdo on their hands. Splendid development.
'ties on a black headscarf'? Whilst muslim-born women are starting to remove theirs?
http://www.signandsight.com/features/1041.html
Posted by: Londinium at June 19, 2007 9:03 AM
Why the sense of surprise? A church that has homosexual clergy shouldn't have any qualms with a "Christian/Muslim" priest.
Leviticus 18:22
"Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
This is nothing more than the next extension of "Church of the Fuzzy Feel-Good". Of course, it's really pissing off the rest of the worldwide Anglican community, which does not subscribe to the lunacy that the Episcopalian Church in America now holds so close to its confused bosom. But think about it for just one minute. The "faith" of situational theology, as Islam was for Muhammad, was one that there was a god, (allah), that only he (Muhammad) could hear which gave him license to do whatever he felt like whenever he felt like it. It is a perfect fit in a theology where everything is anything and no-one is responsible for anything. It's how you feel that matters.
The question for the ahem..., "good reverend", should be quite simple because this is where she has to take a stand on one side of the fence or the other.
Exodus 20:16
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."
Ishaq:365
Tabari VII:94
"Muhammad bin Maslamah said, ‘O Messenger, we shall have to tell lies.' ‘Say what you like,' Muhammad replied. ‘You are absolved, free to say whatever you must.'"
One or the other of the above can be true in her heart, as they are diametrically opposed in principle.
There is a moral precept that runs through the heart of western civilization and is grounded in the Judeo-Christian faith. It is simply that one should always endeavor to do what is just, fair and truthful, even if one's own best interest may suffer. This concept is anathema in Islam. There lies the rub, because Islam is Fascism. I have always felt that E. Hemingway said it best when he stated, "Fascism is a lie told by bullies". If the shoe fits...
Shalom,
Theosebes
at June 19, 2007 11:48 AM
Islam teaches first degree murder.
Christianity outlaws first degree murder.
In fact, the two don't even have the same deity. Yahweh is NOT al-lah (thank heaven for that).
Never the twain shall meet except in some silly moonbat's dysfunctional brain.
Posted by: pythagoras at June 19, 2007 10:53 PM
Mr Sutter.
The difference between Jews and Christians is not the same kind of thing as the difference between Muslims and followers of the Biblical God (be they Jews or Christians).
There are is a bottomless chasm between the Muslim account of God and the Biblical account of God.
A Muslim prostrates themselves in abject submission to a remote and incalculable divine Tyrant whose inexorable Will is a juggernaut flattening everything in its path, who makes no promises, who keeps no promises, who is never addressed as Father.
Jacob, at the brook, wrestles all night with a mysterious stranger. When Jacob asks for the name of his assailant he is given no answer; but his own name is changed to Israel - 'for thou hast striven with God, and with man, and hast prevailed'. "And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [The face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved".
These two images - the Muslim flat on their face before the steamroller of the Divine Will, versus Jacob wrestling with the Angel - are irreconcilable. Down the centuries they have produced radically different human societies. Naturally. One absolutises - and therefore rationalises - Tyranny. The other turns upon Covenant - God-With-Us, God as partner, parent, teacher, lover, friend.
Contrast the common Muslim's superstitious and fatalistic 'inshallah!' with the voice of Tevye in 'Fiddler on the Roof', his running argument with God, by turns exasperated, furious, joyful.
To put it differently: the relationship between the divine and the human, in Islam, may be compared to that between the rapist and the raped; whereas in both Judaism and Christianity the divine-human relationship is compared to marriage, and a love-match at that.
To claim that it doesn't matter what one calls God, or what one's tradition says about God, Mr Sutter, is perfectly ridiculous. Islam's God, and the Biblical God, are as different as Night and Day, Death and Life, Tyranny and Freedom.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at June 21, 2007 2:26 AM
"How can anyone justify criticizing Islam as harsh religion when the same person tells someone what religion they can or cannot practice?"
"Religion is a very personal matter to humans, and their choice of religion is between them and God, whether they call God 'Jehovah', 'Jesus' or 'Allah.'"
Posted above.
First, no one on this site has here, or to my knowledge ever, told "someone what religion they can or cannot practice". What is being discussed is whether they ARE practicing the claimed religion(s). Clearly, if two religions are self-defined as mutually exclusive, one cannot practice BOTH and both faiths remain the same.
Secondly, if one attempts syncretism of mutually exclusive faiths or principles of the mutually exclusive faiths, then one should call the new religion not a variant of one or the other, as that would deny the internal claims of exclusivity, but a totally new religion.
To avoid misappropriation, any entities within the new religion should also be uniquely named, as it would be inappropriate, for example, to call the newly fabricated deity by an architypical name such as Yahweh or Jehovah, when that name is taken and already defined by an existing faith. To misappropriate these names not only invites scrutiny for heresy and/or schismatic intentions, but demands it.
Further, teachers are held to higher standards. By claiming to be not only a votarie, but a MINISTER of a conventional faith, the MINISTER is held to teach the canon and catechisms traditionally taught as non-negotiable. For example, Christ as divine propitiation and atonement is CENTRAL to the faith of Christianity. Weakness on this led to defining the heresy of Pelagianism, for example, and such adherents either broke from the church (schism) or were forced out as heretics. They did not get to continue as MINISTERS. Admitting to simultaneously adhere to another faith that claims Christ was "just a man", is such a rank rejection of the central, most crucial part of Christian doctrine that all Christians should reject such an individual, and not even eat (1 Corinthians 5:11) with them, much less accept them as a MINISTER.
It doesn't get any more "personal" than that. This is not a "personal" choice. This is a self-deluded egomaniacal individual who is effecting violence upon two millenia of Christian doctrine and fourteen centuries of Islamic jurisprudence, neutering both for the thrill of being today's media-whore and for the want of filthy lucre to protract the same. More disgusting is that she is being molly-coddled by her overseers who think their preening acceptance or overly cautious circumspection will be seen as politically correct moral courage instead of the cowardice in confronting heresy that it really is.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen at June 21, 2007 10:48 PM
Comments are turned off and archived for this entry.
(Note: The Comments section is provided in the interests of free speech only. It is mostly unmoderated, but comments that are off-topic, offensive, slanderous, or otherwise annoying stand a chance of being deleted. The fact that any comment remains on the site IN NO WAY constitutes an endorsement by Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch, or by Robert Spencer or any other Jihad Watch or Dhimmi Watch writer, of any view expressed, fact alleged, or link provided in that comment.)