Christian educators can teach tolerance, speaker says Oct. 26, 2004 By Kathy L. Gilbert* NEW
ORLEANS (UMNS) — Our enemies on Sept. 11 were not the 19 men who flew
the planes — it was their teachers, according to James Fleming, director
of the Biblical Resources Study Center in Jerusalem. "Hyper-fundamentalists"
exist in all faiths, and the role of Christian educators is to help
church members understand that hyper fundamentalism is "a human problem
not a religious one," he said. Fleming
presented a workshop on "Interfaith: Understanding and the Role of
Christian Education" during the Oct. 14-18 Christian Educators
Fellowship conference in New Orleans. The Biblical Resources Study
Center is an ecumenical organization in Israel. He
defined "hyper-fundamentalists" as people who have a rigid belief
system that does not allow for any other interpretation of Scripture. "One
of the ways teachers can help others understand hyper-fundamentalism is
to understand it exists in our own faiths," he said. Fleming said hyper-fundamentalists exist in Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths. The four things they have in common are: - A literal view of Scriptures.
- No place for women in authority over men.
- Authoritarian male leadership.
- No interest in interfaith understanding.
"Open
minds, open doors, open hearts would not work in these churches," he
added, referring to the theme of the United Methodist Church’s media
campaign. Fleming,
who has worked in Jerusalem for 31 years, said he finds people are more
intolerant now than they were when he came to the center. The
men who killed the more than 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001, were
taught that they weren’t killing human beings but enemies of Allah, he
said. It is the same kind of belief that says "unless you believe in Jesus in exactly the same way I do, you are wrong. "You can hate on your knees as well as in any other position," he said. Fleming
noted that the Islamic religion is growing much faster than
Christianity and added that when a religion or movement becomes large
enough it tends to develop a "majority complex." "It
is very easy for someone in the majority to feel threatened by
minorities," he said. "It is also natural for the majority to think they
should have the advantage." Fleming points out that Jesus Christ was often in trouble for the people he included. Christian
educators could teach tolerance by encouraging respect. "Show the same
respect to them that you would like to receive. Celebrate what you have
in common, respect your differences, and cultivate empathy — walk in
their shoes," he suggested. Fleming’s
workshop was one of more than 70 offered during the five-day
conference. The Christian Educators Fellowship is an organization for
all Christian educators in the United Methodist Church. Membership is
also open to non-United Methodist Christian educators. For
more information about the fellowship, contact Corinne Van Buren at
P.O. Box 24930, Nashville, Tenn., 37202; (866) 629-3113; or e-mail cef@cefumc.org.
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