A Fixed Game
Jun 01, 2008
Nice title: Bishops in Chess Games.
To deal with the "baptism problem", various schemes have been tried. The missionary experts have tried "secret baptism", "delayed baptism" and "self-baptism" and found them all to be inadequate because Muslim social and family structure is such that whenever a member leaves Islam, it is perceived as a calamitous event for the entire family.
Most of the cases cited where people have resorted to violence are rooted more in disputes over family honour and reputation than in Islamic jurisprudence. In a world where reputation is crucial to the process of finding good marriage partners for siblings, being known as a family with members who have left the faith is highly damaging. This distinction, however, is lost on many Church strategists. Instead, they have consistently blamed Islamic jurisprudence for the anger that is generated and have resorted to what can only be described as an attempt to rewrite Islamic history.
It seems the author is saying that Islamic jurisprudence doesn't advocate using force against ex-Muslims.
But then the very next paragraph:
In recent years, there have been a series of attempts, posited within the interfaith framework, to get Muslim scholars here in the West to issue global verdicts rendering the "law of apostasy in traditional Islam" not only inapplicable in the current context but also historically invalid and unjustified. The purpose, of course, for seeking such a ruling is that it would facilitate the exporting of it to countries where missionaries are having difficulties at the point of baptism with family members of people who convert to Christianity.
Correct. But if that apostasy law is not the cause of harm towards ex-Muslims then why would Christian missionaries ask for it to be declared invalid?
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