THREE FAITHS, ONE THANKSGIVING
WHAT: A service with Congregation Children of Israel, the Islamic Society of Augusta and the Episcopal Church of Our Savior
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
WHERE: Congregation Children of Israel, 3005 Walton Way; although the service is held at the synagogue this year, the location rotates among the places of worship used by each faith.
THE SERVICE: The evening will include readings from the writings of each faith, along with prayers and music. Donations of nonperishable food will be collected for Golden Harvest Food Bank.
QUOTE: "With the events taking place in our country and around the world, it is especially significant that these three congregations -- representing Christianity, Islam and Judaism -- will be coming together in a show of unity to express our thanks and our respect for one another," said Rabbi Robert Klensin, of Congregation Children of Israel.
CALL: (706) 736-3140
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This is a nice thing to try, but I'd be confused if I was there. Whom do you thank? Christians, obviously, thank Jesus Christ. Muslims consider this blasphemy, and the Koran actually OK's violence against anyone who would elevate Christ to the same status as Muhammed or Allah. Jews also consider Allah to be a false god, and believe Christ to be a deceitful, fake Messiah figure. So, getting these 3 faiths together might be a risky thing, considering the irreconcilable differences between them. I suppose they'll all 3 offer some joint, generic words of thanks, then break into individual groups for prayer? No way they could pray together. Nice idea, but just not very practical.
Our Creator, the Creator of All That Is . . .what else need we have in common?
We all worship the same God.
I think it's great, and needed. We all have to live together, ignoring each other just leads to suspicion and misunderstandings.
Nope. No way we worship the same God. Christians worship Christ as God (part of the Trinity). Jews worship only Jehovah. Muslims worship only Allah, and would consider it terrible blasphemy to even consider worshiping Jesus (who is even a notch blow Muhammad in the Muslim hierarchy). So, just a simple review of the basic beliefs of these faiths excludes the other. You can't whitewash it or blend it. There are far too many differences here at the most important, fundamental level to ever say they worship the same God. It's silly to suggest that.