Together we are brothers and sisters in faith
Christians in south-western Sydney should not fear an Islamic school and understand that Muslims share many Christian values, says a prominent religious leader. The Reverend Glenda Blakefield, the associate general secretary of the Uniting Church’s national assembly, said Christians, Muslims and Jews were all “people of the book” who shared a common heritage descended from Abraham.
Ms Blakefield is a veteran of the interfaith movement and has used the church to bring together Jewish and Muslim representatives. The Vatican refers to Christians and Muslims as “cousins in the Abrahamic faith” and Pope John Paul II called Jews the “older brothers” of Christians.
Ms Blakefield said Christians did not have to compromise their faith to enjoy warm relations with other religions. “This is a fear many Christians have,” she told the Herald. “But it is not well founded. We do not ever compromise our core conviction that Jesus Christ is the centre of our faith. The Muslims I talk to would not expect it and they would not compromise their core beliefs, either.” Instead, she called on the Anglican, Presbyterian and Baptist churches in Camden to recognise their “common humanity” with Muslims.
By: Andrew West, “But we are brothers, sisters in faith, say others”, SMH, 23 April 2009.