The writer is calling him/herself as Gambiano--- A real name would have been better.
This is the query:
Suntou,
Below is my comment to you peice. Let's practice tolerance.
A quick comment on Suntou Bolonba Touray's column December 2009 in The Gambia Journal:- The Ultimate Sacrifice: Eidul Adha: Man or Animal.
Touray wrote "Also we as Muslims don’t believe that, God sacrifice his own Son for the sin of others to come. Sin even lay people like myself can tell is ever increasing, therefore God sacrificing his only Son for us make little sense".
Bolonba look up the word FAITH. Profess what you believe and NOT what you don't believe when it comes to religion. Because the same way you said it makes little sense to Muslims that God sacrifices his only Son is the same way it makes less sense to Non-Muslims that Mohammed is a prophet and the Quran is the word of God.
If you live in a glasshouse don't throw stones.
Policing Intolerance.
Prisoner of Tolerance.
A. Gambiano
Here is my first response to him/her:
Thanks for your observation Gambiano. Unfortunately you are rather late in the day in terms of religious discourse. Every religion has things which cannot be reconcile with others, thus the difference in belief systems. And to make intellectual comparisons is the bedrock of comparative religion.
I understand from your mail that you are a Christian, if so, I have been exposed to the faith from early childhood in Sierra Leon a country i was born in. I have a lot of respect for the faith and its followers, however, I felt that the difference we have should be shared if the need arises.
I have listened to many Christian talk shows on radio making emphasis on why Christians don't sacrifice animals and Muslims do, it is from such exposure that i did the article explaining the Islamic point of view.
If you see that as an attack on Christianity, then you need to read my piece again and see the deeper conversation i put across. It is a known fact that, Muslims love Jesus (Isa) the Son of Mary and the Qur'an devoted a whole Chapter to the birth and live of Jesus and his Mother plus the disciples. Hence we as Muslims don't disrespect Jesus as some Christians on their part do to Muhammad. Faith is about mutual tolerance and respect, I am very tolerant to different faith groups, I even have books on religion such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism, many books on Christianity and the new secular dogmatic believes.
However, I remain a Muslim and once in a while, I do comparative writings on religious subjects. If you follow religious literature's actively, Gambiano you will notice that every day there are countless materials written by Christians against Islam. In fact, the majority of websites attacking Islam are mostly run by Christians. As a Muslim, my central believe is that, there is no need for negative religious propagation, whoever is guided will receive the correct understanding of Islam and may by God's grace embrace the faith, this is why Muslims hardly depict Christianity with negative propaganda materials like Christians do to Islam.
I hope you understand the brief response here, we cannot all be the same in the ways we think and believe.
Suntou Bolonba Touray
The writer reacts again with the following remarks: The writer call him/herself as 'the prisoner of tolerance':
Suntou,
I am solely an agent of tolerance and I rather be late in this discourse than never.
I have many Christian friends that respect Islam, and sadly in some cases more so than the so called Muslims. As you mentioned there are countless materials written by Christians against Muslims or the negative depiction of Muslims by Christians. Equally, I can refer you to many sites on the internet , books and materials that will be quite the contrary. More telling, I sit in the circles of Muslims and their portrait of Christians is not good either. So if you are tolerant, negative propaganda should not be the measure stick for your discourse. Remember we all live in glasshouses.
I do not mean to go back and forth on this topic. My point is we need to be mindful of what we pen. Thanks for being tolerant and I hope you we can be crusaders of tolerance.
Prisoner of Tolerance,
Gambiano
My final response to his reactions:
Gambiano, many take the tolerance moral high ground but actual don't have a shred of it. If you value your opinion and wish to practice tolerance, then you should be comfortable with the views of others. By attempting to play smart and silence me is a Cristal clear demonstration of intolerance. Be comfortable of who you are and then allow others to express their opinions. Counter them if need be, but you cannot hoodwink me in anyway or form.
By the way, use your real name so that i can respect your opinion. Thanks anyway, and good bye.
I don't live in a glass house, and by the way, throw as much stone as possible. Islam is not my property, it is a religion i believed in, hence i don't get offended because somebody write or say things i don't like against the religion. I counter other people's views when i see fit to further intellectual and open discussions.
Suntou
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