The Christian Double Standard - Muslims Are Told to Denounce Islamic Extremism, But Christian Extremists Go Unchallenged

As anyone who has read this blog for a while will know, I am really down on the hypocrisy that is the face of far too many of today's self-professing Christians. Not only are they totally unloving and unfaithful to the central Gospel message, but they also want special rights for themselves and demand from others what they are unwilling to demand from themselves. A case in point is the demand that Muslims condemn extremist elements that claim to be loyal adherence of Islam, yet the silence is deafening when it comes to Christians condemning the extremists who wrap themselves in Christianity as the engage in a hate fest against everyone who doesn't subscribe to their toxic religious beliefs. My approach both in life and in representing clients is to not demand from others what one is unwilling to do yourself. An piece in the Washington Post looks at the double standard of today's Christianists and the silence of other professed Christians when in comes to condemning the extremists in their own ranks. Here are some highlights:
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"Burn a Quran Day" is how a church in Florida is preparing to mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11. So far the Christian response to this in America has been nearly dead silence.
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Since 9/11 many American Christians have been asking why Muslims who oppose Islamist radicalism don't do more to counter it. Today I suspect more than a few Muslims are looking at Christians in America wondering why Christians don't try to dissuade the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida, led by Pastor Terry Jones, from hosting Burn a Quran Day.
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What is the responsibility of religious believers in a given faith to engage fanatics advocating ideologies of hate while claiming to act in the name of this faith? Quran burning does not equate with murdering thousands in terrorism. However, these are similar in being ideological expressions of hatred which identify themselves with Abrahamic faiths better known for their emphasis on God's mercy toward all humans.
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There is a mess brewing inside Christendom. Some American Christians might be thinking, "Terry Jones and his church - ahem, his "church" - have nothing to do with me because I am Catholic/Methodist/fill-in-the-blank." And yet the only thing a flood victim in Pakistan, likely Muslim, is probably going to hear about this story is, 'American Christians put their energy and resources into Quran burning, not into helping us in our hour of dire need.'
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if American Christians don't try to reach out to Terry Jones [the pastor sponsoring Burn a Quran Day], then who will? Press releases will not be enough. We need intra-faith dialogue. Those of us inside of a given faith may be most likely to have the credibility, or at least understand the dispositions of the heart and the substantive arguments, which can counter doctrinal fanaticism.