Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Middle Tennessee [part 1]

The presence of religious diversity is an ever growing reality in America today. This is felt perhaps most profoundly in the modern American household where, according to a 2010 Pew Forum poll, “among people who are married, nearly four-in-ten (37%) are married to a spouse with a different religious affiliation.”[1] To find further evidence of growing religious diversity here in Middle Tennessee, one has only to look at the impressive variety of worship and study spaces, a growing number of which are devoted to nearly all of the world’s major religions. For example, Middle Tennessee’s evolving religious landscape includes Sri Ganesha Temple, one of the largest Hindu Temples in the Southern United States. Indeed, in addition to the well established Jewish and Christian communities, Middle Tennessee is home to Vietnamese Buddhists, Indian Sikhs, and has the benefit of nurturing the largest Kurdish Muslim community in the United States. Even still, historically, the Christian Tradition has and continues to dominate the religious landscape in cities and towns across Middle Tennessee; so much so, that some have deemed this region “the buckle of the Bible Belt.”

Today, religious diversity in Middle Tennessee is a given; how one chooses to respond to this growing reality, however, is not. In 2010 the presence of Middle Tennessee’s expanding religious diversity in places like Brentwood, Antioch, and Murfreesboro, has received local and national attention, when growing Islamic communities in these areas have sought and/or begun construction on new mosques and community centers. In 2011 lawmakers in the state of Tennessee put forth a proposed bill that would make the practice of Islamic Shariah Law a felony, punishable by up to fifteen years in prison. Essentially Shariah is the traditional way in which Muslims manage those issues pertaining to religious adherence and daily life. It has been compared to Jewish Law also known as Halakha. Essentially this law will make it illegal to practice Islam.    

The primary concern for Christian lawmakers and advocates who supported this bill is something called “creeping Shariah.” This term refers to the belief that American Muslims are strategically moving to see that Islamic Shariah Law replaces the United States constitution as the means by which the United States is governed. Post 9/11, the contemporary political narrative that has been constructed is one which mistakenly pits the Islamic Tradition against America. By virtue of the way in which a significant number of Christians have come to view the role that Christianity played in the development of the Western political system, this is being depicted as a war between Christianity and Islam.

The controversy that has developed surrounding the growing presence of Islam in Middle Tennessee has challenged me to seek out a Christian response to the religious other that honors the presence of the religious other. For some Christian communities, the political response is the Christian response; however, I along with many others across Middle Tennessee find this approach problematic. While those who oppose the Islamic Community’s right to freely construct places of worship and conduct said worship as their tradition dictates, appear quite certain that theirs’ is the proper Christian response to the presence of Islam in Middle Tennessee, I believe that the Bible and specifically the teachings of Jesus suggest otherwise.

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[1] http://religions.pewforum.org/reports