Month: June 2011

‘I can think of no more conformist message in liberal [democratic] societies than the idea that students should learn to think for themselves.  What must be said is that most students in our society do not have minds well enough trained to think.  A central pedagogical task is to tell students that their problem is that they do not have minds worth making up.  That is why training is so important, because training involves the formation of the self through submission to authority that will provide people with the virtues necessary to make reasoned judgment.’ (Hauerwas)

As Christians and Muslims continue to interact and we struggle to find ways to communicate the faith, listen to the words of missionary Frank Laubach from the early 20th century.   Laubach was a missionary to Muslim Moros people on the Island of Mindanao.

What right then have I or any other person to come here and change the name of these people from Muslim to Christian, unless I lead them to a life fuller of God than they have now?  Clearly, clearly, my job here is not to go to the town plaza and make proselytes, it is to live wrapped in God, trembling to his thoughts, burning with his passion.  And, my loved one, that is the best gift you can give to your own town.