[Peace-discuss] RE: The Christmas He Dreamed for All of Us

[John W.]

At 07:31 PM 12/29/2005, Karen Medina wrote:

> >From: "Paul M. King" <pmking at uiuc.edu>
> >Question: What would it mean for AWARE to have substantive
> >dialogue with the mainstream Christian community? What do we
> >want from them? What can we give them? What is the best way
>to develop genuine relationships with them for the purpose of
> >building future coalitions?
>
>Having a dialogue with the mainstream Christian community is
>a tough question. If anyone has suggestions, please offer
>them.
>
>It has been suggested that we contact a minister or the
>leaders of the church. Contacting these people when they are
>not interested in what you have to say is the first obstacle.
>The second obstacle is that the ministers are not the
>congregation, nor are they necessarily the gate to the
>congregation. So even if we succeed in having a conversation
>with a minister, there is still no contact with members of
>the church who might be interested in discussing the
>situation in Iraq.
>
>Suggestions?
>
>-karen medina

You can begin, as you have to some degree, by engaging in sincere dialogue 
with, and seriously listening to, those in your own midst who profess to be 
Christians.  If you can't even get past the religious/spiritual differences 
with those who share your concern for "peace" and "social justice", how 
will you ever impact the mainstream Christian community in any sort of 
meaningful way?

John Wason