Love Thy Neighbor..
.. unless thy neighbor is a dirty Muslim.
Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, the city’s largest interfaith organization, announced Thursday that its annual Thanksgiving celebration Sunday had to be moved because Hyde Park Baptist Church objected to non-Christians worshipping on its property.
The group learned Wednesday that the rental space at the church-owned Quarries property in North Austin was no longer available because Hyde Park leaders had discovered that non-Christians, Muslims in particular, would be practicing their faith there. The event, now in its 23rd year, invites Jews, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Bahais and others to worship together.
Organizers had booked the gymnasium at the Quarries in July and made the interfaith aspect clear to Quarries staff at that time, said Simone Talma Flowers, Interreligious Ministries’ interim director.
Several Muslim groups were acting as this year’s hosts for the event. Kent Jennings, associate pastor of administration at Hyde Park, released a statement Thursday that said church leaders received a postcard about the service Monday and only then realized that it “was not a Christian oriented event.”
The postcard also “promised space for Muslim Maghrib prayer and revealed that the event was co-hosted by the Central Texas Muslimaat, the Forum of Muslims for Unity, and the Institute of Interfaith Dialog,” according to Hyde Park’s statement.
“Although individuals from all faiths are welcome to worship with us at Hyde Park Baptist Church, the church cannot provide space for the practice of these non-Christian religions on church property,” the statement said. “Hyde Park Baptist Church hopes that the AAIM and the community of faith will understand and be tolerant of our church’s beliefs that have resulted in this decision.”
Tags: cancelled, christians, muslims, neighbors, thanksgiving
November 19th, 2007 at 2:59am
Religion sucks.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:00am
Very much so. Hopefully, it’ll start dying soon. It’s been around for far too long.
November 22nd, 2007 at 4:51pm
The Shane: it’s been dying for a long time. Although there were big christian revivals in Victorian times, these were just blips in the decline for much of the christian empire, which towards the end of the twentieth century lost its grip on europe and much of south and central america, having already lost its footholds in asia. Secularism is the norm for a huge proportion of the countries of the world now, and in the others, the rise of right-wing religious politics is the last gasp of traditional patriarchy. Religious thinking is now a minority occupation, and is disassociated in most parts of the world from the academic, political, and economically dominant classes that in previous generations were it’s most jealous guardians. So Cheer Up!
It’s….. goodbye god!
November 23rd, 2007 at 3:29pm
I think it’s great that people of all faiths should gather and commune together. Hopefully, while they’re all arguing about who’s got the best imaginary friend they will collectively, as one and in a gloriously unified kinda way realise that they’re all full of shit. That way we won’t have to pick the bastards off one by one.
November 24th, 2007 at 11:16pm
Narsufin: “We won’t have to pick the bastards off one-by-one.”?? You sound so christian!
The last line of the church’s rejection letter was truly flabbergasting: non-christians are supposed to be tolerant of the church’s intolerance!
November 28th, 2007 at 7:50am
athnam: Agreed, that comment may have sounded as if it could have come from any christian, or indeed any fundamentalist of any denomination. However, my belief is that ANY organised religion is dangerous and limiting to the psyche and I will be happy when the flocks of all churches, mosques, synagogues etc have realised that they are human beings and not sheep.
Regards.