American churches are raising funds to help rebuild a mosque damaged by U.S. bombing in Afghanistan.
Bishop Mark Sisk of the Episcopal diocese of New York initiated the idea as part of a “Ground Zero to Ground Zero” relationship “of innocents caught in the storm of international war,” according to his newsletter.
The Qarabagh District Mosque, located in the village of Estalif, 40 miles north of Kabul, was hit last fall after the Taliban occupied it for use as a military base, according to local residents. The villagers said they pleaded with the Taliban fighters, for the sake of the Quran, to not use the building as a cover for battle, the National Catholic Reporter said. Two walls and the roof were damaged, but much of the building is still standing.
The repair project is estimated to cost $37,000.
Erik Nelson, a researcher with the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington, D.C., a group promoting renewal in the Episcopal Church and other mainline denominations, says he can understand Christians wanting to assist beleaguered Muslims with relief aid.
“But rebuilding mosques? It’s not something Christians should be doing, especially in places where there has been persecution of Christians,” he told WorldNetDaily.
A Bay-area Catholic said he was “horrified” to learn that St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco, has designated its “tithe” for the first quarter of 2003 to Islamic groups, with half going to the Qarabagh mosque project.
“As Christians we need to help those in need, regardless of their race, or religion, but that does not include supporting their religions financially,” he said in an e-mail after reading about the project in the church’s quarterly newsletter. “How dare they send our funds to a mosque when our own churches in Ukraine, China, Jerusalem and countless other places need our help desperately.”
The parishioner believes the “primary mission of Christians is to spread the gospel of Christ, not rebuild another religion’s place of worship to teach against Christianity. It is suicidal, guilty minds that are behind this.”
Julia Dowd, who heads the St. Ignatius social justice committee, told WND the church’s outreach funds for the quarter – $5,000 – will go to “works in Afghanistan or Islamic solidarity groups,” with about half designated for the rebuilding of the mosque.
‘Projecting force’
St. Ignatius is channeling the funds through a San Francisco-based human-rights group called Global Exchange, which organized an interfaith delegation that visited the mosque in June.
Bishop Sisk sent a priest from his diocese with that delegation, Stephen Holton of Ossining, N.Y.
Holton said that through the project he wanted to show that “Christians are hospitable and maybe Americans are not so bad,” according to the National Catholic Reporter.
“Our country is good at projecting force, and that seems to be the only way we know how to interact with the world,” Holton said.
Sisk has emphasized Christian-Muslim dialogue in his first year as leader of the New York diocese. He took over as bishop just two weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York and the Pentagon. Last November, he hosted a speech by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. In June, he welcomed members of the World Muslim League.
“I believe that it is our duty as Christian leaders, witnesses to the promises of the living Lord, to take initiatives that can bind up the wounds of the human community,” said Sisk in his annual address to the diocese on June 8.
Sisk is coordinating the project with a Flushing, N.Y., mosque, Hazrat-i-Abubakar, led by Imam Mohammad Sherzad.
Sherzad expressed surprise at the gesture, according to National Catholic Reporter.
“Although they are coming from a different religion, they are saying we are building a place of worship,” he commented through a translator. “That means we all worship God.”
The mission of the New York diocese’s Episcopal-Muslim Relations Committee, according to its website, is “to foster better mutual understanding, and to facilitate a deeper appreciation of our Muslim neighbors and of Islam. The committee works to combat defamation and promote justice, particularly by raising awareness concerning Islam and by dispelling stereotypes which hinder effective and respectful relations.”
Global Exchange founding director Medea Benjamin says the U.S., except for some Congress members, is “not helping and not supportive” of the project.
But she acknowledged that her group has applied to USAID, the government relief and development assistance agency, for funds for health care and housing.
On Nov. 18, Benjamin, whose group opposes the war in Afghanistan, helped launch a four-month “Women’s Prayer Vigil” in front of the White House to protest the administration’s threat of military force in Iraq.
