For the past month or so, I have been reading the Quran. (Koran). That may seem an odd thing for a devout Christian, a part-time pastor to be doing, particularly over the Christmas break.

Why? It was an act of total frustration. Ever since 9/11, I. like everyone, have been bombarded by people telling me what Islam was and wasn’t. The media, the Internet, social media, Islamic teachers, Christian pastors – all litter our lives with quotes from the Quran, put out there to prove their point.

Some of those quotes are full of rancor and hate, advocating violence and suspending any rules of common decency and morality against Infidels. (All of us that are not of the Islamic faith). And some of those quotes would indicate that Islam is a faith full of love and tolerance, both when considering its own, and us Infidels.

What can we believe? Which is the “Real Islam”? As the war on terror, the wars and revolutions in the Middle East grow and grow and grow, I simply felt a need to stop leaning on others; opinion and try to understand from the source.

And so I have been reading quietly, not telling anyone except those closest to me what I was doing. I really didn’t want to come at this with others’ notions, ideas and emotions. I wanted to prayerfully look for understanding.

At the same time, I have been reading “The Oxford History of Islam”, wanting to see how that faith translated into Middle Eastern culture through history.

It was a lot of reading. There were things I didn’t understand, so I ended up having to do research in various Quran commentaries. That’s the way I come to things and ideas and opinions.

Slowly. Layering layer after layer of information and opinions, looking for the prevalent patterns in things that lead me, I hope to the truth. I often describe it to living in the middle of a storm of information that, over times, settles down and shows the way.

It is a time-consuming way to get to opinions, just the opposite of how most of us do it these days, where everything, including opinions and emotions, have become as instant as everything else in our world. It is so time-consuming that I just can’t do it for most things. Only the important things and important people. The rest? It just sort of flows past me without strong opinions one way or the other.

So what did I discover?

First, the Quran is a pretty angry book. It’s very Old Testament in its distaste and disdain for people who are not of the faith. There are indeed parts of it that take a very scorched earth attitude towards non-Muslims. It seems that, when it comes to us Infidels, the majority tone is that pretty much anything goes when it comes to dealing with us. The rules of normal morality and behavior can be abandoned when it comes to us.

Like I said, very Old Testament, where killing Non-Jews seems to be the preferred way to deal with outsiders.

However, like the Old Testament, there are some beautiful, loving passages in the Quran. If you could carve them out and not tell people where they came from, I could see people believing they came from the New Testament. Love, tolerance, kindness, acceptance DO show up.

They just aren’t the mainstream message.

It made me very grateful for the New Testament, and Jesus’ clarifying which parts of Old Testament Scripture should prevail in our hearts and mind. From Matthew 22, verses 37-39: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Jesus says this in more than once place. Way ahead of his time, he managed to take something crazy complex (Jewish scripture and law) and make it simple.

And I like simple.

I also like the message. And I like grace, that spirit of forgiveness and forbearance that Jesus lived, taught, and lived again. It is what I believe. It’s what I try to live. In my pastoring, it’s the message I put out again and again and again.

It’s the message that allows me to live peacefully and joyfully in a world where my friends are Christian (of a zillion denominations), Buddhist, Muslims, and a couple dozen  other flavors of faith. It has become easy for me to be tolerant and kind because I can look at Jesus living the same thing out. His disciples came from all different directions of the Jewish faith. He was kind and gentle with outsiders, Roman Soldiers, Greeks, people from the slimy subcultures of his world. Pretty much everyone except self-righteous Jewish hypocrites.

I am VERY aware not everyone agrees with me on this. Not in a frightened and angry America. Not in an angry world. Not even in my own Christian faith.

I am also aware that there are a lot of Christians who are angry, scared and determined to use very Old Testament tactics to spread their faith, or to wage spiritual war on anything different. To some these people are heroes. And to others, they are misguided at best, and dangerous at worst.

Not unlike some Muslims.

Which is why I am glad I ended up reading the Oxford History of Islam at the same time as I read through the Quran. It gave me a perspective. It showed me patterns. It made me think of the Christian faith as well, and compare notes about what was going on religiously and culturally at the time.

What I saw is something I’ve always sort of suspected but had never really studied. When Islam lived and practiced tolerance and love, they thrived as a culture. When they practiced hate and intolerance, they diminished as a culture.

Guess what? For the most part, the same thing can be said of Christianity.

Think that’s a coincidence? Not a chance.

Here’s what I believe. As a Christian, we often talk about fruits of the spirit. We use Paul’s letter to the Galatians, chapter 5, verse 22 to guide us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

I think it’s interesting that, when you cut to the chase on most world religions, loving God and loving people are at the forefront. I think it’s interesting that most religions provide a path to gain what we Christians call “The Fruit of the Spirit”. Even the milder Muslims. I think it’s interesting that most religions have had periods when they lived with open hearts, and periods when they lived in fear and anger and intolerance – and that their cultures grew and contracted accordingly.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not going all new age here. I am unabashedly and deeply Christian in my spiritual life. Nothing else holds together or makes as much sense to me. I believe it’s basic tenants to my core. But most religions and faiths have the common thread of love and fruit of the spirit in them. That is our touchstone. That is where we can begin to treat each other with respect, and learn from each other.

But while I am overtly, privately and publicly Christian, I am also acutely aware that there is a difference between our spiritual lives and religion. Religion at its best manifests, teaches and supports a God of love, that is open and tolerant and aggressively kind to everyone it encounters.

Religion is at it’s worst when it abandons love, and replaces the fruit of the spirit with fear, anger and intolerance and an excuse to behave harshly.  And when we use that excuse? Our lives as individuals close in on us. And our lives as a culture close in on us.

It’s time to look at religions differently, I think. To not say “This religion is like this and that religion is like that.” because those kinds of generalizations always only tell part of the story. In the end, it’s about the people who practice it. And they choices they make, the choices WE make, in what part of their holy books they (and we) build their lives and actions on.

I feel fortunate. In my faith, Christ made it easy. He very clearly said what was most important. That helps me sift through all the pages of other stuff and look at it in the context of what Christ said was most important. Choices become easier. Actions become easier. Love God. Love people. We even have a great definition of what love is and what love isn’t (1st Corinthians 13). Since I am not great scholar, I am incredible for that clarity.

I really don’t envy Muslims who want to live in love and peace right now. (and there a lot of them.) They are fighting an uphill battle with their own holy book with no clear indicator of what is to prevail in their faith – anger and war against Infidels, or peace, tolerance and kindness. What do they choose? And what do they do with the part they don’t choose? Talk about a spiritual struggle!

So what do I think of Islam now? I think about what a struggle it must be to be a good Muslim, and how hard it must be to decide what to follow. I think Islam as it’s being practiced in much of the Middle East is more about politics and power and anger than real spirituality. I am sad for a culture and people’s hearts lost and destroyed in that anger.

I am sad and yes, angry and yes, scared of how that anger threatens my life. I’d be lying if I said differently.

And I worry for my own country, right now so full of anger and fear. How do we get back to love? How do we come to realize the power of tolerance and kindness to change people and grow all of us? Do we have the courage (for it takes courage, oh does it take courage) to live the best of our faith?

I have no idea. I have NO idea. I have no weapon or persuasiveness or wisdom beyond my faith, and how I live. And that will have to do. It’s all I’ve got.

Be well. Travel Wisely,

Tom