There are many social issues that are imminent for our Australian nation. My concerns are not for myself but for our descendants, yours and mine. Unifying faith in the one God in Australia is crucial because of our nations cultural and religious diversity.
How will our Nation look in the next 10 or 20 years? Who can we trust? Who will be our leaders? What implications will cross-cultural or cross-religious unions create?
Cross cultural Research
Jordan Denari Duffner an American Catholic has studied in Jordon and declared, “finding Jesus among Muslims made me a better Catholic”. What does she mean by this statement?
I have witnessed Inter-religious Christian programs to date, offering portrayals of Islam. But I doubt a Christian or a Roman Catholic can advise their congregations about being a Muslim in Australia.
My academic research was a qualitative first-hand study of the culture of Afghan Muslim women who came to Australia as Women at Risk (Visa 204). While I was in Afghanistan doing preliminary field work, I witnessed a young religious student of Islam as he looked upwards, towards Allah, and began to sing.
With no understanding of the words, my heart was moved by the voice of a melodious angel, singing A cappella. Words are important but, listening paves the way to hear all the ways God or Allah speaks into the space of brothers and sisters. Unfamiliar as I was with followers of Islam, my lived experience recognised a common ecclesiastic advocate.
In a poverty-stricken country it occurred to me how war doesn’t merely kill thousands of men, women and children but, cultural and political conflict killed off something in the fabric of the Afghanistan nation that can never be brough back. Years of warfare characterised Afghan peoples to be viewed as the products of a backward nation, of unenlightened people whose religion promotes violence.
Despite all the counselling and cautions put forth about the dangers one might face in Afghanistan, without interaction with Afghan people it would seem a correct statement. There is no doubt that the country is deficient in many ways, in comparison to Australia.
Nonetheless, the Afghan people showed there was no difference at any level of personal intellectual interaction as they maintained their Islamic faith and accepted me as a Catholic woman. I believe I found Jesus among the Afghan people.
Research findings
Duffner cited 800 articles about Islam in Catholic media outlets, claiming that Catholics who read content from Catholic media have a negative view of Muslims. We all know that is racial vilification. Yet, Catholic media articles that mention the Roman Catholic leader, Pope Francis have a positive effect towards achieving Christian-Muslim solidarity.
Thankfully, Pope Francis finds Jesus amongst Muslims. Pope Francis believes in a unified monolithic God. If I can find Jesus amongst Muslims, maybe you can find Jesus among Christians and together we can contribute towards a world of fraternity and peace urgently needed for our Australian Nation and the world.
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