I Promised I'd Blog More…
… and I haven’t.
Forgive me, please.
Ok, so that’s out of the way. As I sit and type, I am watching the third Paradise Lost film about the West Memphis Three. The gross mishandling of justice in this case kills me. Glad the kids are out, but they need some real, true exoneration… expect a blog on the West Memphis Three situation in the near future.
Additionally, I’m about 20 pages away from the end of the first book I purchased for my Nook, Michael Muhammad Knight’s William S. Burroughs vs. The Qur’an. I have all types of ideas and thoughts about this book, but tonight I wanted to focus on one.
In the recent past I have learned so much about my own faith through the readings and ideas of people that don’t subscribe to the same faith as me. I have read “Christian” books recently, too, but it’s the books of Knight that have really been hitting home with me. I read “Christian” blogs, but the blogs of non-believers are the ones that have really struck me.
What does this mean? It means one thing, really… and that is that the oft-adhered to thought of Christians that they should be solely consuming the books and music from the local Christian bookstores and the blogs of other believers is horribly limiting.
If I stuck to only reading the words of others who believe in Jesus as Lord, so much of the spiritual and intellectual growth that has occurred in me would have developed at a much slower rate, if at all. When I read of Knight’s struggles with his faith, I learn so much that is applicable to my faith journey… and if I had said from the beginning, “Oh, he’s just some Muslim!” I’d never have had the chance to challenge and question and learn and love as I have over the past year that I’ve been working through his body of writings.
So, tonight, I am going to ask everyone to open your mind. If you are a Christian, pick up a book by a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Taoist… or if you are a Muslim, read a book by a Christian… or it you are an Athiest, read a CS Lewis or Rob Bell book… or (GASP) if you are a person of any faith, read a book by an Athiest! You may learn something!
either way, we can drive all night... 
Hear hear! More knowledge can never be a bad thing.