New Reasons to Believe

I'm finding new reasons to believe in God every day. One of the newest: watching people of different faiths pulling together in difficult times.

"Killers do not deserve the honor of a religious label." Eboo Patel wrote this for the Washington Post here last week. But the problem is that everybody on the planet reported that this man is Muslim implying a connection between his faith and his terrible crime in Ft. Hood.

I agree with Patel: A Muslim didn't commit this crime. A disturbed man committed this crime. He could have been a Christian or a Jew or an atheist. But the fact that he happened to self-identify as a Muslim has nothing to do with anything except for the fact that it perpetuates misunderstanding.

He did not allegedly shoot people because he is Muslim. Killing innocent people is anathema to the most basic principles of Islam. He allegedly did this because he is deeply disturbed.

This is a good time to support the Muslim community as they are receiving some destructive publicity because of a very troubled person. But there are new reasons to believe that God can use even this to bring people together.

Art is Reasons to Believe by Chris Roberts-Antrieau whose fantastic work was displayed last weekend at the Washington, DC Craft Show. Buy her stuff.