Heated Email Debate (Part 2)

To see what this email is in response to, please go back one entry!!!

From Me:
Rock on!  Thanks for the response and the understanding of where I’m coming from.  I just felt that the email that was sent out was way to generalized and needed to be addressed.  Everything that you stated is basically what I was trying to get at in so many words.  If you don’t agree with Barack Obama as being the president of our country, then so be it.  That is your right and more power to you when you vote at this election.

 
Due to may relationship with many people of different faiths as of recently (as I stated before I am working with refugees that have now been place in our country due to the unsafe environments of there homelands) I just can’t find the reasoning behind putting people under such a large umbrella of judgment.
 
I agree with you whole heartedly that there are major contrasts between the Muslim faith and Christianity.  We of course are going to follow the beliefs of our own faith including probably voting for somebody based on their own belief system and more so their policies and ability to lead our country.  That does not mean that we have any right what-so-ever to say that such a large group of people make “bad” Americans though.  It’s just not true.
 
It’s been truly a blessing to be able to see the interest of some of the people that I work with when I get the chance to share my faith with them.  Tolerance of other people and their beliefs is a must in our generation.  When we burst our Christian bubbles and befriend people of other religions or those that are not religious at all, there is that much more of a chance for those people to see that not all Christians are the fanatical people that can at times give our faith a bad reputation.
 
As far as the original email goes, the presentation (once again in my opinion) of what was being stated was not so much geared towards Senator Obama and what he stands for.  It came across pretty harshly, and in my opinion is not the way to sway somebody to think about who they are voting for.  If there are things about the candidate that you don’t believe in or agree with, then address the candidate directly.  It’s simply not fair to subject an email: Can Muslims Make Good Americans?  Because the answer to that is yes they can, just as Christians can make good Americans, non-religious people can make good Americans, and so forth.
 
Also in answer to your question, “If those of us who read emails like the one below are not being "good Christians" by disagreeing with the Muslim faith are they being "good Muslims" by adapting their lives to fit our culture and befriending us?”
 
I would like to reiterate that I was not defending the Muslim faith in my first response.  As a Christian I do disagree with the Muslim faith.  I didn’t say that reading emails of this context meant we were not being “good Christians”.  The context of the original email came across much more harshly to me than obviously to others that have been passing it along and I felt it necessary to not just be quiet this time around and to speak up for what I felt should be said, possibly opening somebody else’s eyes to how that particular message could be perceived by others that are receiving it.  As far as whether or not people of the Muslim faith are being “good Muslims” by adapting their lives to fit our culture and befriending us… do they really have a choice if they are going to live in our country?  For instance, was the guy who lived in Saudi Arabia (or any other person who is Christian and living in a part of the world where Christianity is against the law) being a “good Christian” by adapting their lives to fit the culture and befriending those that are around them?  It’s simply not our place to say yes or no to these questions.
 
And yes… this interaction has been very enlightening.  Thank you for the open-minded response.  =)
 
God bless!
 
Love always,
Jamie

Once again, to understand why I wrote this email, you will need to go back an entry to read the entire email conversation.  There evidentally is not enough room in one entry for the whole email thread.

I would love to receive notes in response to this email thread.  Interested to see if my response seemed reasonable or if I just sound like a dolt who didn’t know what she is talking about.  LOL  Even if you don’t agree with me though, I must say that I still feel very confident in my responses, and in turn ask that if you do leave a note whether to agree or disagree with me, please keep it clean and civilized.

Thank you!
JamieLynn =)