Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

Author Q&A: Charles Kimball on ‘Truth over Fear: Combating the Lies About Islam’

NewsBob Allen  |  September 6, 2019

With memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks still raw, Charles Kimball, a professor, Baptist minister and expert analyst on the Middle East, drew on three decades of experience to write a book released in 2002 about why people do bad things in the name of religion.

In When Religion Becomes Evil, Kimball, at the time a professor at Wake Forest University, identified five warning signs common to all religions – absolute truth claims, blind obedience, the impulse to establish an “ideal” time, belief that the end justifies the means and the declaration of holy war – and gave advice about how to recover what is best and healthy in all religions.

Charles Kimball

In his latest book, Truth over Fear: Combating the Lies about Islam, Kimball explores a new development in Christian-Muslim relations – the mainstreaming of Islamophobia as a pathway to political success.

Now presidential professor and chair of religious studies at the University of Oklahoma, Kimball discussed ways Christians and Muslims can work together in this Q&A about the recent release of the new 180-page paperback published by Westminster John Knox Press.

Why did you write this book?

The 21st century may well be defined by interfaith relationships. The most dangerous and widespread flashpoints center on relationships between adherents of the world’s two largest religious communities: Christians and Muslims.

This book grows out of more than 40 years of work focused on my vocation with a teaching ministry and constructive interfaith cooperation in the U.S. and the Middle East. Speaking in more than 500 colleges, universities, seminaries, divinity schools, churches, mosques, synagogues, civic organizations, etc., I have a clear sense of the kinds of questions and concerns about Islam that foster widespread fear in the West.

While there remains a lot of goodwill, a large majority – including a large majority of Christian clergy – still lack the resources to address growing Islamophobia or pursue constructive programs with Muslims (and others) in their local setting.

This book seeks to address this urgent need by providing a new paradigm for how Christians and others of goodwill can better understand Islam as most Muslims live out their faith. And, it offers an accessible guide for positive initiatives individuals and congregations can take to work toward a more healthy future between Christians and Muslims.

Is America Islamophobic?

Sadly, in 2019 all evidence suggests the answer is “Yes.”

Christians and Muslims have traveled a long, circuitous, and often bumpy road together for more than 1,400 years. There has been far more cooperation in lands with Muslim majorities than most people in the West perceive.

The roots of mistrust, misunderstanding and fear of Islam run deep in Europe and North America. Many developments in the tumultuous events of the 20th century world of nation-states – particularly in the decades since the 1979 revolution in Iran and the emergence of militant Muslim non-state groups – have led to a clear rise in the growing, generic fear of Islam as a religion that is somehow inherently violent and menacing.

What are the lies that people tell about Islam?

There are many, but the most prominent ones include the following: the true goal of all Muslims is world domination; Muslims want to impose Sharia (Islamic Law) on all people in the society; Sharia is rigidly fixed and it requires a harsh, corporal system of punishments for criminal and moral infractions; the Qur’an tells Muslims to kill Jews and Christians; Allah is a false god or demonic spirit; Islam is completely incompatible with democracy; and women in Islam are all oppressed.

There is another “lie” about Islam that also needs to be addressed. More than a few Muslims (and others) say “Islam means peace” and suggest that this ends the discussion. Islam is not monolithic any more than Christianity or any other major world religion. One cannot simply dismiss anyone or group claiming inspiration from your religion and behaving in ways that appear to contradict the most fundamental teachings. Militant Muslim extremists are part of the picture just as the KKK, Crusaders and the untold millions of Christians who have persecuted Jews and other Christians down through the centuries.

Here is the problem: Most people tend to think of their own religion in the “ideal” and everyone else’s religion in terms of the flawed lived reality one observes in the behavior of adherents. Reducing the religious traditions of hundreds of millions of people to a caricature or stereotypical image is, by definition, misleading.

Who is stoking these fears, and why?

Many politicians, preachers and self-appointed pundits fuel Islamophobia on a daily basis. The book cites prominent examples to illustrate the point. Whether or not leaders are sincere or cynical, many appear to believe that stoking fear about Islam and Muslims serves their purpose(s).

Ramping up fear and hostility toward Muslims has real-world consequences as public harassment of individuals and families as well as threats and malicious attacks on mosques continue to rise. Recall and consider the implications of President Trump’s highly visible declaration in the summer of 2019 that the two Muslim women elected to the U.S. House of Representatives should “go back” to where they came from. A sickening reminder of the real-world consequences of Islamophobia occurred in March of 2019 when more than 50 Muslims were slaughtered as they gathered for prayer at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

What should Christians make of attempts by state legislatures to prohibit the practice of “Sharia law?”

My home state of Oklahoma was the first state to take an initiative to “ban” Sharia with a hastily prepared referendum placed on the November 2010 ballot. (Note: Many people refer to Sharia law, but this is redundant. Sharia means “Islamic law.”) Oklahomans voted strongly in favor of “banning Sharia and all other forms of international law” by a 70 percent majority.

Although this initiative was quickly struck down in federal court, the swell of support for the referendum was instructive: Most Oklahomans were fearful and clearly didn’t want Sharia coming across the Red River to somehow take over U.S. and state laws. Research and articles by journalists revealed quickly that almost no one who was in favor of the referendum could even define Sharia! People in my state – and in more than 20 states subsequently where similar measures have been proposed – were both fearful and uninformed. 

The first step is education. In Truth over Fear, I devote attention to this issue, explaining how Islamic law is supposed to work in the life of faith for Muslims, how it is not static but always a “work in progress” as circumstances dictate the need for adaptation and changes.

I know hundreds of Muslims, and not one wishes to have Sharia be the law of the land here in the U.S. Christians should seek first to understand what Sharia represents, how it is supposed to work (in its many variations), and then speak to those who are pushing efforts to prohibit Sharia in their settings. Here is a great question to pose to Muslims in educational forums and/or Christian-Muslim dialogue programs in churches: What is Sharia, and how is it integrated into the life of faith from your perspective?

Is Islam a religion of peace?

Without question, this is how the vast majority of Muslims would characterize their religion. The term “Islam” literally means the religion of those (Muslims) who submit themselves to God and therefore are at peace. The root of the word is from the same Hebrew word for peace: Shalom (salam in Arabic). Of course, as with Christians, Muslims have not always lived up to the ideal they affirm.

The 21st century may well be defined by interfaith relationships. The most dangerous and widespread flashpoints center on relationships between adherents of the world’s two largest religious communities: Christians and Muslims.

Religion is complex, and we must always seek to understand what is happening and why, and how self-professing devout people justify behavior that is clearly at odds with what is at the heart of their religion. A little self-awareness and self-reflection among Christians helps make the point. As a close rabbi friend once put it to me bluntly: “While we Jews welcome and celebrate this new day in Jewish-Christian relations, it is still not easy. It comes against a large backdrop: Two thousand years of ‘Christian love’ is almost more than we Jews can bear!”

What can readers of your book do to advance “truth over fear?”

Reading the book is a significant first step, since it addresses and, hopefully, clarifies many of the issues that fuel the fear of Islam and Muslims. Perceiving the worldview, basic ritual-devotional practices and Islamic history as most Muslims do will demystify the world’s second-largest religion and elucidate ways Christians and Muslims have a great deal in common. The final two chapters of the book offer a contemporary framework and very practical guidance on how to pursue dialogue initiatives and cooperative work in communities.

Since a great deal of positive work has been done by leaders in the Vatican and among Protestant and Orthodox ecumenical organizations as well as many denominations, individuals and congregations don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Rather, it is possible to build on the educational programs and initiatives in community that have proven to work well. The foundation begins with education.

This book seeks to provide a good deal of that foundation. But, the most effective form of education comes through personal encounter. The more people of faith and goodwill can do to help “humanize” the “other,” the less people will be susceptible to generic, monolithic images based on the behavior of extremists who get far too much attention.

The book is structured in a way that makes it work well for serious adult study programs in churches. The chapters are manageable in length and questions to facilitate discussion are included at the end of each chapter.

 

 

Tags:PoliticsIslamIslamophobiaInterfaith dialogueChristian-Muslim dialogueCharles Kimball
More by
Bob Allen
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • Here’s what I’m learning in therapy

      Opinion

    • Tony and Lauren Dungy know something about influence, on the field and at home

      News

    • Skepticism holds seeds of hope: The SBC and clergy sex abuse

      Opinion

    • Letter to the Editor: I also stand with Brittney Griner and kneel for the Anthem

      Opinion


    Curated

    • The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President

      The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President

      August 15, 2022
    • Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples

      Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples

      August 15, 2022
    • Religion, Spirituality Second Most Frequently Read Genre in U.S.

      Religion, Spirituality Second Most Frequently Read Genre in U.S.

      August 15, 2022
    • Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

      Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

      August 15, 2022
    Read Next:

    When conservatives today speak of ‘states’ rights,’ they likely don’t mean the popular vote; here’s a case in point

    AnalysisMark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • No, Dan Patrick, God did not write the U.S. Constitution

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Black religion and reparation questions

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Progressive National Convention joins with AFL-CIO to advance racial and economic justice

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What happened to American conservatism? Engaging Matthew Continetti’s The Right

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Historic Kentucky church calls gay man as co-pastor

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Department of Justice investigating SBC on sexual abuse

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘Everything is changing at the same time,’ veteran religion reporter explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Skepticism holds seeds of hope: The SBC and clergy sex abuse

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • Tony and Lauren Dungy know something about influence, on the field and at home

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Here’s what I’m learning in therapy

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Letter to the Editor: I also stand with Brittney Griner and kneel for the Anthem

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • It’s easier to be a bully today, author explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • A thoughtful question at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • When conservatives today speak of ‘states’ rights,’ they likely don’t mean the popular vote; here’s a case in point

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • Transitions for the week of 8-12-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      OpinionMarvin McMickle

    • How The Jetsons and Westworld help us think about robots, personhood and faith

      AnalysisRick Pidcock

    • Some evangelical leaders see FBI visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as evidence of the religious persecution coming to them

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Advice from a sunflower

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Where are the women on the SBC’s first and second sexual abuse task forces?

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • New study finds scammers luring migrants with false information via Facebook and WhatsApp

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church

      OpinionDavid Ramsey

    • Progressive National Convention joins with AFL-CIO to advance racial and economic justice

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Historic Kentucky church calls gay man as co-pastor

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Department of Justice investigating SBC on sexual abuse

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘Everything is changing at the same time,’ veteran religion reporter explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Tony and Lauren Dungy know something about influence, on the field and at home

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • It’s easier to be a bully today, author explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 8-12-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Some evangelical leaders see FBI visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as evidence of the religious persecution coming to them

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • New study finds scammers luring migrants with false information via Facebook and WhatsApp

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Progressive Baptist congregation on Wake Forest campus votes to close

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • South African women’s soccer team success shines a light on gender wage discrimination

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • It isn’t a church and doesn’t have members, but it is a way to keep United Methodists in the fold as their congregations disaffiliate

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Rural church offers community development grants through Gratitude Project

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The church needs to do better on monkeypox than it did on HIV, faith leaders say

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Russell Moore named editor in chief of Christianity Today

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • 40 Congressmen urge IRS to reconsider classification of Family Research Council as a ‘church’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Online religion content isn’t luring Millennials away from in-person church

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Study finds congregational leaders report LGBTQ conversations are worth the pain

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • There’s something odd about this Mary, did you know?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Cuban government clamps down more on religion

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • September symposium will celebrate life and legacy of John Claypool

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • No, Dan Patrick, God did not write the U.S. Constitution

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Black religion and reparation questions

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • What happened to American conservatism? Engaging Matthew Continetti’s The Right

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Skepticism holds seeds of hope: The SBC and clergy sex abuse

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • Here’s what I’m learning in therapy

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Letter to the Editor: I also stand with Brittney Griner and kneel for the Anthem

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • A thoughtful question at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      OpinionMarvin McMickle

    • Advice from a sunflower

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church

      OpinionDavid Ramsey

    • Why can’t we accept sexual and gender diversity in humans as well as in all creation?

      OpinionDan McGee

    • I’ve been unaware of my privilege, and if you are a man, you probably have, too

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • Are left-wing radicals pushing Cracker Barrel to the edge of the slippery slope?

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • To be more welcoming, let’s remove our flags

      OpinionJustin Pierson

    • News flash: Not all Baptists are Southern

      OpinionBrian Kaylor

    • Why aren’t we defending Brittney Griner?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • A school administrator reflects on rebuilding relationships between schools and homes

      OpinionStanton Eugene Lawrence

    • Judging the stripper and the carouser in ourselves at the Communion table

      OpinionBrad Bull

    • After the Guidepost report, we need to know more about FBC Woodstock’s City of Refuge and NAMB’s support for it: Was ‘moral failures’ code for sexual abuse?

      OpinionJoanna Sullivan

    • Forsaking Baal for the God who is in recovery

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Thomas Merton, Martin Luther King and Critical Race Theory

      OpinionKen Zagacki

    • What evangelicals won’t tell you about the actual sin of Sodom

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Giving birth in prison: The grief of separation, the grace of presence

      OpinionKathy Manis Findley

    • Dear Denny Burk, your view of gender is not biblical, it is dangerous

      OpinionEllie Dote

    • The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Religion, Spirituality Second Most Frequently Read Genre in U.S.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Politicians seek to control classroom discussions about slavery in the US

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Despite vastly different values, evangelical ‘Hamilton’ connects secular left and Christian right

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Both Open- and Close-mindedness Increase in U.S.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Native Americans urge boycott of ‘tone deaf’ Pilgrim museum

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Boston’s Jews are getting a ‘Jewish tavern’ to study religious text — and drink beer

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ReAwaken Tour host says he feels harassed by NY prosecutor

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why the largest US Lutheran denomination apologized to a Latino congregation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Supreme Court Wants to End the Separation of Church and State

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Suspect in Dallas salon May shooting indicted for anti-Asian hate crime

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Anglican Division over Scripture and Sexuality Heads South

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Amy Spitalnick, who took on neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, is moving to Bend the Arc

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • New York City’s Largest Evangelical Church Plans Billion-Dollar Development

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ben & Jerry’s fears its new Israeli owner could sell ‘Judea and Samaria’ ice cream in latest court hearing

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why Alexander Hamilton gave his heart to Jesus at a Texas church this weekend

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Baby Blues: How to Face the Church’s Growing Fertility Crisis

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Orthodox Alaska Part 2: The Beatles, Bees And Orthodoxy Animated In One Man’s Life

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Hundreds of thousands gather for mass prayer in Baghdad

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ukrainian seminary professor faces difficult decisions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members. Where Are They Coming From?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Religious Right’s Agenda Is Center Stage Again — And It’s As Unpopular As Ever

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • After Trump, Christian nationalist ideas are going mainstream – despite a history of violence

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2022 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS