Monday, February 16,1987/The Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
hristian, Muslim faiths explained at A&M forum
)nss
creased;
By Frank Smith
Senior Staff Writer
K arts
/ u ristians and
?sgon]i;Muslims were battling each other.
>rtstlia| B ut at Texas A&M, representatives
faiths sat down together and
/jrtiuil.ued their different beliefs.
a three-hour forum entitled
rom akljius: A Common Link Between
JSttheiiMiislims an< ^ Christians,” two guest
^Bakers presented brief overviews
Hlslamic and Christian thought
and sp ent the remainder of the eve
rting ato ning fielding audience questions,
e an ffc ature< J speakers were the Rev.
j a Mike Graham, director of A&M’s
Baj :st Student Union, and Steve
lnsll:ll ‘Johnson, director of the Islamic
'guidedrfreaching Center of the Islamic So-
camerafly of North America — an organi-
drej^ zati’ll based in Plainfield, Ind. An
, , A&M professor of philosophy and
' " humanities, Dr. Manuel Davenport,
liinoderated the forum,
mhlaimiffp he program, sponsored by the
u ], Saudi Student Club, drew a crowd of
about 150 people.
‘Johnson outlined the simplicity of
Islam, emphasizing its teachings that
k^Hre is one and only one god — Al-
- and that prophets nave been
The Biisem throughout history to offer peo
ple guidance.
■We don’t know the names of all
f ■ messengers,” he said. “We’ve
,, [been given 25 to 28 of them in the
Koian, but there may have been
hundreds of thousands of them to
all the societies through all of time.”
^fhose prophets include Adam,
Jesu^ and Mohammed. Muslims
/ view Mohammed, who lived in the
y/ late sixth and early seventh centu-
^ ties, as the final messenger of Allah.
In Islamic thought, Jesus is regarded
as being equal with the other proph
ets,
{Muslims hold all the prophets to
Lecture tries to clear Western misconceptions about Islam
By Robert Morris
Staff Writer
The West holds misconceptions about Islam
and the term “jihad,” and it’s time to dispel the
myths; said Steve A. Johnson, director of the Is
lamic Teaching Center of the Islamic Society of
North America based in Plainfield, Ind., Satur
day night.
The lecture, titled “Terrorism — Facts & Fic
tion,” was sponsored by the Saudi Student Club
and was held in the Memorial Student Center.
While the lecture was supposed to give both
sides of a delicate issue, it seemed more like a
one-sided presentation against the United States.
Citing three examples of violence against Mus
lims in the United States, Johnson said he felt
that Muslims are victimized.
“I hear in the media that the Islamic religion
breeds terrorism, and yet when I see it, it seems
like we are the victims of terrorism,” he said.
“Terrorism within the United States has not
been perpetrated by Muslims,” he said. “In fact,
it is the Muslims who have been the victims of ter
rorism here. And we never hear about that.”
Still, he said that Muslim terrorism is a reality.
“I don’t mean to suggest that Muslims have not
participated in acts of terrorism, or acts of ag
gression,” he said.
Trying to explain why terrorist acts sometimes
occur, Johnson asked, “What are the conditions
that set the stage for terrorist attacks? An act of
terrorism is itself an effect of something else and
we need to judge the action that led to that.
“Former President Carter touched on what
leads to terrorism when he observed that terror
ists act out of frustration and that the origins of
terrorism are the lack of progress in the Middle
East.”
He said terrorists act against other acts of vio
lence.
“Terrorism is retaliation against other forms
of violence, whether that violence is structural, in
terms of the systematic exclusion of human
rights, or is a political denial of a group of hu
mans their rights,” he said.
Johnson called the belief that Islam breeds ter
rorism a gross distortion of the truth.
Mohammed, viewed as a prophet in the Mus
lim faith, placed very strict limitations on the use
of force and the reasons for war, he said.
The slaying of the Jews worshipping in the
synagogue in Istanbul could not be justified un
der the Islamic principle of jihad, he said.
“Therefore it was no surprise to the Muslims
that despite the attempt of the U.S. media to ac
cuse Muslims and to indict Islam for that slaying.
Middle Eastern leaders unequivocably de
nounced the act as outside Islam,” he said.
“Jihad, which is one of the most maligned and
abused words in the media today, is allowed and
even commanded of the Muslim in certain very
limited cases,” he said.
“It is preeminently ... a struggle for social jus
tice,” he said. “Especially when those who are
wronged are the poor and the powerless.
“Muslims can also wage jihad against unjust
aggressors.”
He said, “See, they (the Jews in Israel) have
driven the Muslims out, they have initiated the
aggression. Though killing is bad, persecution is
worse than killing.
“A state in which people are denied their
rights is worse than using force to overcome an
unjust system.”
Jihad is the means to correct an unjust social
system, he said.
The word Islam, itself, does mean peace.
“Jihad is not the normative statement in Is
lam,” Johnson said. “Peace is the normative
statement in Islam.
“The United States should look at the real tea
chings of Islam. I think they would find their real
enemy is not Islam. Instead, it is those individuals
who have been led away from Islam by coloniali-
zation.”
be human — fully human — with no
divinity mixed in,” Johnson said.
Graham outlined the Christian
view that Jesus was both fully human
and fully divine. He said the Chris
tian concept of the trinity is not in
consistent with monotheism.
“I don’t begin to understand the
trinity, but I do know it’s real,” Gra
ham said. “I never say ‘they’ are
God. We believe in one god, and that
there are three manifestations of
that god in our lives — God the fa
ther; Jesus the intercessor, the per
fect sacrifice; and the Holy Spirit,
the comforter, the in-dweller that
lives within us.”
Both speakers responded to a
question about whetner they be
lieved Christians would see Muslim
heaven, and vice versa.
Johnson, answering first,
said,“The unforgivable sin within Is
lam is not blasphemy of the Holy
Spirit, it is associating something
with Allah — giving attributes of
God to something that is not God.
We should not try to rob God of his
divinity. So ‘Let God be God,’ we say.
“And ultimately we will be judged
on the basis of that, (and) also upon
our deeds and what our intentions
were behind those deeds. But. . . we
know that Allah is merciful and ulti
mately, it’s his mercy and his grace
that decides whether we enter into
heaven.”
Associating divinity with Jesus
would be an example of committing
the unforgivable sin, Johnson said.
He said many of his Christian
friends are troubled by the fact that
within Islamic thought there is no
“100-percent assurance” of salva
tion.
“We (Muslims) don’t have that no
tion,” Johnson said. “But we don’t
live in great anxiety about it, either.
Because, you see, that’s the mercy of
God.
“He sent his prophets. He’s given
us the way. He’s made us a promise
that if you do this, then you really
have nothing to fear. So we don’t
worry about it.”
Graham said he believes a per
sonal relationship with Jesus is nec
essary if one is to enter into heaven.
“My heart is heavy when I answer
that question, because I think that
anybody that is outside of a
relationship with Jesus Christ will
never see heaven, according to God’s
word,” Graham said.
Davenport asked Graham about
those who lived and died without
ever having heard of Jesus.
“I have the concept that God
judges people according to the
amount of revelation that they ha
ve,” Graham said. “I believe in a
merciful, loving, forgiving God. I
believe that God will not send any
one into separation from himself
who has not had the privilege of the
opportunity to come to know him in
Jesus.
“I believe in the mercy of God
very clearly, as well as the judgment
of God.”
Johnson and Graham also offered
differing viewpoints on the doctrine
of “original sin.”
Graham said Christians believe
that sin entered the world, and that
it was necessary for Jesus to be sacri
ficed to atone for the sins of the
world.
“It doesn’t mean that every man is
guilty because of the fact that sin en
tered the world,” Graham said. “The
scriptures teach that ‘all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. .
“Most of us are moral and good.
But that’s not good enough. Fulfil
lment comes through Jesus Christ,
who comes to enable us to be victo
rious over our thoughts and our
minds.”
Johnson said Muslims have no
doctrine of original sin.
“There is no need, within our per
spective, for God to send a son to be
crucified,” Johnson said.
k-UNESCO official:
By Amy Couvillon
Staff Writer
The United Nations can be com
pared to a worldwide university or
jplhnical school that can enhance
the learning capacity of humanity, a
former deputy director-general of
the United Nations Education, Sci-
[ence and Cultural Organization said
Friday.
JI'Dr. John Fobes, now president of
the Economic Development Council,
spoke to an audience of about 160
people in Rudder Theater on eco
nomic and social development as
pari of the four-day Memorial Stu
dent Center Student Conference on
National Affairs.
iMlthough the United Nations has
had problems reaching agreement
on world issues, Fobes said, it has
served an important role by promot
ing learning and by gathering infor
mation on world issues.
“In helping the nations of the
world to learn through cooperation
about the environment, the control
of diseases, the safety of air trans
port and the technical aspects of
communication,” Fobes said, “the
U.N. system must be given much
credit.”
He emphasized that, although the
U.N. system is not perfect and needs
reorganization, it still has merit in
promoting economic and social de
velopment in all nations. Every na
tion, including the United States,
can be considered a developing na
tion, he said.
The U.N. peacekeeping function
is closely tied to its teaching func
tion, he said. Thinking of the world
as a united entity, he said, is impor
tant.
U.N. plays
“We must consider the planet as
one,” he said, “environmentally, in
respect of human rights and in the
interest of survival of ourselves and
the rest of humanity. .. . The United
Nations can and should be used to
help in the transition froth mutually
assured destruction to ^mutually as
sured and sustained new devel
opment.”
He used the analogy of a “wagon-
train scout” to describe the role of
the United Nations as an informa
tion-gatherer. The United Nations
and its programs can “go ahead” of
the world like scouts before a pi
oneer wagon train, he said, research
ing subjects important to world de
velopment.
“Humanity may be regarded as
exploring paths toward a new era,”
he said. “Some call it the ‘informa
tion society.’ Scouts who can survey
educational role
the past, the configurations of the
landscape and the alternative routes
and strategies ahead can he helpful.”
Fobes said accomplishments of
the United Nations include setting
world goals through peacekeeping,
civil aviation, agricultural devel
opment and the peaceful uses of
outer space.
He used agricultural development
as an example to illustrate how the
United Nations works.
Some U.N. organizations actually
purchase seed, tractors and fertilizer
for agricultural programs, Fobes
said, while others play an advisory
role, doing research and teaching
new techniques.
He said he would like to see the
research and educational role of the
United Nations expanded.
“The U.N. system has performed
an essential service in gathering data
and working to preserve the natural
and man-made common heritage,”
Fobes said.
Eighty percent of the work of the
United Nations has to do with eco
nomic and social development, he
said. This development, he said, can
be measured in terms of budget,
staff or number of projects.
“I use the term ‘economic and so
cial development’ in its broadest sen
se,” he said, “to include banking,
trade, agriculture, industry, the nat
ural and social sciences, communica
tions, transport, education, health
and humanitarian activities.”
He challenged the conference
participants — and all young people
— to come forward with innovative
ideas for improved structures and
processes of international organiza
tions, and for coordination among
their increasing numbers.
State prison
may reopen
on Tuesday
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — The
Texas Department of Correc
tions, closed last week because of
inmate crowding, may be able to
reopen Tuesday, prison officials
said Sunday.
The prison system is closed
during the weekend, and it also
will be shut down today because
of a state holiday, TDC spokes
man Charles Brown said.
The last count, made at mid
night Thursday, totaled 38,519
inmates. That number was 95.36
percent of capacity, or 144 in
mates over the legal limit.
About 210 inmates were re
leased Friday, Brown said. Fri
day’s population figures were
scheduled to be released today.
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