Missionary - Muslim and Christianity

I have been struggling to find something new and interesting to blog on. Both Islam and Christianity are profoundly missionary religions. Thus there has been extreme conflict over the years. In this book I am reading, a fairly old book, they mention a conference held in Chambesy, Switzerland in 1976 on "the subject of mutual experience in mission". There was sharp frankness at this conference. It goes without saying that if each side was true to their beliefs there could be no agreement and even no compromise. There wasn't. I understand many Muslim speakers called for or demanded a moratorium on Christian mission in Islamic areas. Of course this was unacceptable to Christians with a missionary zeal.

From both sides there can be no agreement to simply coexist. To do so would be to deny the basic belief of your faith.

I would add parenthetically, the book does not mention it, that repression of those who do convert, on both sides, is totally wrong. A person should have the right to believe as he wants and to change his beliefs if he wants.

Secondly this man Kenneth Cragg in his book Call of the Minaret speaks of the poor morality of using hospitals and feeding programs to attempt to convert people since you are approaching them at their most vulnerable and weakest. I'd really never thought of that and those participating in this kind of service evangelism certainly never see it this way. They are demonstrating their God's mercy and compassion by serving a people in need. Surely it is right and important to explain to them why they are there and tell them of God's love for them? This is why Muslim countries have tried to reject Christian Missionary Hospitals in their midst. But those Christians who started them saw there was a need, it was not being met by the local culture and came in to take advantage of the situation to introduce the Christian God to the locals. If done correctly aid administered whether a person converts or not, I see little to criticize. Of course if you are simply making "rice Christians" then it is all wrong and one wonders about the honesty of the conversions themselves.