Why am I not a Muslim?

Here is how I perceive the difference between the two faiths.

Islam is natural. It is easy, recognizable, something of a "yeah", what the Qur'an calls a Reminder. It is like a homecoming, something you intuitively know but it is spelled out for you. That is why it is called "reversion" instead of "conversion." The signs of God are all around. Look at nature, the pattern of night and day, the growth of plants and all the natural phenomena. The Qur'an states that everything has been created in pairs, either in the sense of mates, male and female, or in the sense of the sphere of duality within which man operates (e.g. dark/light, good/bad, right/wrong, etc.). While there are some proscriptions in the Qur'an that are difficult to accept, the overall theological picture is quite simple.

Christianity is not natural. At least not on the surface. It isn't a homecoming. It is a complete rupture of what we think of when we think of God. Trinity. Incarnation. Death of God. The God-man. All these concepts Christians trumpet proudly are actually disruptive both in the sense of causing a complete change in our worldview and also in the sense that they are a distraction from the true essence of the message of Jesus. The theology is not easy. It is not a "reversion." It is almost unnatural, thus the reason so many Christians seem to look down on nature, both human and in the world at large. No, Christianity is a constant struggle.

So why not Islam? Obviously, it sounds appealing. There are three reasons.

1) Muhammad. I have no idea who he was. With all that is written about him, you can basically pick and choose and create your own Muhammad. Simple man, fixed his own clothes, allowed his wives to talk back to him, gentle with children, submissive to God. Or he was a war monger who was interested in power and used religion to obtain it. And just about everything in between. There is more written about Muhammad in the traditions attributed to him than there are about Jesus. And it is impossible to really know who he was. The "living Qur'an"? Well, if I can't understand him, how can I understand the Qur'an? I can't as I will interpret it according to my experience.

2) Aisha. Tradition asserts that she was six when betrothed to Muhammad, nine when their marriage was consummated. He was in his fifties. I don't care about the culture of the time. That is deeply disturbing. Even if we question the sources and bump her age up into her teens, it's still peculiar. Either those who told the tale that she was six or nine were projecting their own culture onto Muhammad or it happened as it has been related. And the fact that there are questions surrounding it verify my issue #1.

3) Beating your wife. Surah 4:34. Not much to say there. Unless that is reinterpreted and shown to be wrong and accepted by the majority of scholars to mean something akin to "separation" then the verse in the Qur'an is horrible. Period. No matter how we reason it out. Even acknowledging that it was perhaps a limiting verse on previous practice, it is still bothersome that it is in there, spelled out that clearly. Truly it gives permission to the husband. And, human nature what it is, will not be seen as a limitation but as a command.

Those are the three primary reasons I am not a Muslim.

Why am I a Christian?

1) Jesus. Plain and simple. I have never encountered a figure of his stature. And this isn't buying into the God-man thing. That doesn't interest me a whole lot. I have found that wherever it is that we go in our spiritual journey, from the highs to the lows, Jesus is there. He is us. He is our mirror. When we look at him, he reflects back to us who we really are and we thus ascend toward being like him.

For every injustice, trauma or damage we suffer, he was crucified. Perfect love. Sinless. Human with a capital "H". He taught us how to love. He has shown us the love of God. He has shown us God. In his person.

Even if we argue that the New Testament is corrupt and all the other attacks of critics, there is still a very clear and precise picture of who Jesus is. We may differ on some points but overall, this picture is clear. And this picture is of a man that you wish to follow. By following in his footsteps, by doing what he says, you begin to see what it means to really follow God, to really love and to really love.

It is paradoxical and it turns your world upside down. And in doing so you become more and more like Jesus; you become more and more human. And in doing so, God becomes a very real presence in your life.