The founder of a messianic Jewish ministry says evangelical leaders must be living in “la-la land” if they think Islamic imams will ever say positive things about Christianity, despite the release of a “cooperative statement.”
At the conclusion of a recent four-day conference at Yale University, more than 150 Christian and Muslim leaders from around the globe announced the first step of the “Common Word” exchange drafted last November. The Christian representatives included the heads of both the National Association of Evangelicals (Leith Anderson) and the World Evangelical Alliance (Geoff Tunnicliffe). A statement released at the conclusion of the conference explains that “the intention behind the Common Word is not to foist the theology of one religions upon another or to attempt conversion.”
According to a Reuters report, participants of the Yale gathering affirmed their support for freedom of religion and mutual respect. But Jan Markell, director of Olive Tree Ministries in Minnesota, has reservations about one particular aspect of the inter-faith agreement. Markell admits she is very skeptical about a pledge made by members of both faiths to spend one week per year sharing the “positive aspects” of the other’s faith.
“The mosques would talk about Christianity in a positive light. Christian churches would talk about Islam in a positive light,” explains Markell. “…I don’t believe there’s a mosque in America that’s going to say positive things about non-Muslims. And very sadly, I think they’re will be evangelical pulpits that once a year will get up and say now here are some positive things about Islam,” she laments.
Markell says the idea is “unrealistic, to put it mildly.” She comments that these “evangelical” leaders apparently do not know that many American mosques are the breeding ground for radicals who are calling for the destruction of America and its takeover by Islam.