To be clear, I don't oppose dialogue with the likes of Khatami in principle. What I very strongly oppose is a Christian church giving a place of honor to a cleric like Khatami, who oversaw and endorses such brutal, repressive rule. The human rights situation in Iran is dire, and has grown much more so since Khatami was turned out of office by that loon Ahmadinejad. But Khatami didn't get to be president of the Islamic Republic of Iran by opposing the theocracy. During the Cold War, you had liberal Christians sucking up to the Soviets in the name of "dialogue," while dissidents rotted in communist jails. It was a moral disgrace then, and it is a moral disgrace now. I detect the whiff of brimstone and the usefully idiotic liberal spirit of the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, who insulted the American hostages by going to Tehran to sing Christmas carols for them in collaboration with their captors. According to Mark Bowden, author of "Guests of the Ayatollah," writing in the Atlantic Monthly:
In a brief conversation with Bill Keough, the former head of the American High School in Tehran, who had come to Tehran to retrieve school records and found himself trapped by the takeover, Coffin remarked jokingly that he had often longed for an extended period of quiet in which to read and think and contemplate. Keough smiled grimly. It was the remark of a free man who was not being threatened daily with trial and execution.
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Oh, well. I just read on the National Cathedral's website that, by the request of the State Department, attendance at Khatami's address will be "invitation-only."
That leaves those of us who want to ask (what we hope are) subversive and challenging questions out of the mix.
For further information, here is the website address:
www.nationalcathedral.org>
I meant to sign my name above. BTW, I'd love to hear other people's questions for Khatami. Have a nice weekend everyone!>
watsy said: Didn't Jesus say that those who "live by the sword will die by the sword?" Didn't he command Peter to "put that sword away?"
It's tough being a Christian because the world might think that your brains are falling out.
Beautifully said, watsy!>
It makes me sad and afraid to see in these comments how ignorant so many are about the complex social, political and religious situation in Iran. So rather than explore and learn lets just continue the tough talk and threats - followed up by wrong headed action just as we did in Iraq - look where that got us.
Have you ever seen an Iranian movie or spoken to an Iranian? Do you know anything about them except what the MSM and Chaney tells you - wake up and get your head out of your a$$ before we support another war that is totally avoidable.>
Susan said -
Wow. So people of other faiths should NEVER speak at your church? I guess I'm secure enough in my faith that I'm not concerned that other people are speaking about their belief.
What is there to be afraid of it a Jewish person or a Muslim speaks at my church?
No, I don't, unless they are there to tell about how the love of Jesus caused them to recognise that He is the Son of God and the only doorway to God.
If your church has a motive other than the divinity of Jesus Christ than it is not a church. I don't know why that is such a difficult concept to grasp.
It's like having a hunter come to speak at your PETA meeting. I guess they could have something to add but they don't exactly have the same goals to say the least.
The national Cathedral can bill itself as whatever it wants to but, as its history states,
"On September 29, 1907, the foundation stone was laid. President Theodore Roosevelt and the Bishop of London spoke to the crowd of ten thousand. The stone itself came from a field near Bethlehem and was inset into a larger piece of American granite. On it was the inscription: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14)."
For those without biblical knowledge, that refers to the advent of Jesus. Though in congregations like these I know that the Bible has little significance.>
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