Being a Mormon which is a part of the Christian Family, I am apart of one of the 3 Abrahamic Faiths. Jews and Muslims making up the other two. From what I have studied Jews originate from the stem of Judah which is one of the 12 Tribes of Israel. Judah is a son of Jacob who is the son of Isaac who is the brother of Ishmael, the stem by which the Muslims, from what I have studied, come through. In the LDS Church we believe that when you are baptized you enter into the House of Israel, or, are adopted into the covenant thus bringing you into the family of the House of Jacob.
As a Christian I am a cousin to the Jew and to the Muslim. We are all decedents of our Father Abraham and are blessed under the covenants he made with our God. Perhaps in Judaism and Islam Jesus is not seen as the Savior, the Son of God, but we all do believe in the same Heavenly Father. In Judaism they are waiting for the Messiah, and in Islam Muslims do believe that Jesus will return in the end with some important mission.
All these faiths have codes of modesty, health, chastity, and morality. These codes however different they are in cultural practice are very similar in symbolism. This symbolism is what brings us to common ground.
It is hard for me now, to see the cultural unrest in the world involving my cousins. It also hurts me to hear the ignorant politicians and uninformed citizens professing to understand the conflicts of the geographic region known as the Middle East. It is not so simple as to say, the Jews verses the Muslims or the Shi'ites verses the Sunnis or Christians verses the Muslims. It is not so much a "religious" war, but a political one. Yes there are religious radicals and fanaticism that influence the unrest and conflicts of these people, but these cultures and peoples have been living there and having conflicts far before Islam and Christianity were introduced to them.
As a Christian I feel it is unfair to point fingers at any group of people and say, "they are this way". After becoming basically family with four Muslim girls while I studied abroad in China, it makes no sense to say Muslims who are living their religion are anything but a good, loving people. There are radicals in every group religious, political, you name it.
As a family we should be finding away to be a family again. To reach out to each other, to include each other, to accept each other. We all have differences but it is much more effective to cultivate a Holy Envy for each other's faiths, to see something in another's faith that which you find beautiful and true.
I referre to these three Faiths in this particular blog, but that does not exclude anyone else. We all are apart of the Human Family as well and all peoples from all faiths and origins ought to treat each other as such.
