Bogus Gold

Far be it from me to lecture others regarding the best manner in which to live out the Christian faith. I can duke it out on obscure matters of theology at length. But when it comes down to more basic things like getting my sorry butt out of bed and into church on Sunday morning I confess I have more to learn than to teach.

That being said, when one's attempt to live out Christianity includes embracing Islam, I think there may be a tiny problem.

Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.

On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.

She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.

Redding, who until recently was director of faith formation at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, has been a priest for more than 20 years. Now she's ready to tell people that, for the last 15 months, she's also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved.

Yeah, that's right. This woman is not only a Christian/Muslim. She's also an Episcopal priest who until recently was in charge of "faith formation." I wonder how well that worked out for her?

Already beyond parody, this story gets even weirder as the religion reporter writing this story attempts to give it the old J-School attempt at objective reporting. She finds some people on either side of this Monty Pythonesque situation, reporting them both with equal credulity.

Friends generally say they support her, while religious scholars are mixed: Some say that, depending on how one interprets the tenets of the two faiths, it is, indeed, possible to be both. Others consider the two faiths mutually exclusive.

Of course one obscure tenet of contention between the faiths is messily raised.

"There are tenets of the faiths that are very, very different," said Kurt Fredrickson, director of the doctor of ministry program at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. "The most basic would be: What do you do with Jesus?"

Christianity has historically regarded Jesus as the son of God and God incarnate, both fully human and fully divine. Muslims, though they regard Jesus as a great prophet, do not see him as divine and do not consider him the son of God.

Yeah, there is that messy "Christ" at the center of Christianity. Not believing in Him as the Son of God, and the savior of mankind makes you - not to put to fine a point on it - not a Christian. And yet believing this would tend to make you ineligible to be a Muslim.

Not to worry. Our curious reporter has it covered.

Redding doesn't feel she has to resolve all the contradictions. People within one religion can't even agree on all the details, she said. "So why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam?

"At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That's all I need."

Let's not go on and on about who's the Messiah, and who is or isn't God. Getting lost in pesky details like that obscures the greater truth... not that we're exactly informed what that might be. We do get this:

"It wasn't about intellect," she said. "All I know is the calling of my heart to Islam was very much something about my identity and who I am supposed to be.

"I could not not be a Muslim."

I know it seems to defy the intellect, but I feel a calling to be Mary, Queen of Scots, as well as Doug, pasty Midwestern blogger. I only hope my new subjects will treat my calling with the deference Rev. Redding gets from her church.

Redding's bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vincent Warner, says he accepts Redding as an Episcopal priest and a Muslim, and that he finds the interfaith possibilities exciting. Her announcement, first made through a story in her diocese's newspaper, hasn't caused much controversy yet, he said.

Interfaith possibilities, hell! It offers the Borg-like potential to absorb all the world's faiths under the Rt. Rev. Warner's glorious direction.

It's a fairly long article, and you can read it all if you'd care. It doesn't get any clearer, and certainly never takes that terrifying leap for any J-School grad - common sense.

They do quote some of her personal beliefs which would tend to undermine her contention that she's either Christian OR Muslim. To whit: she doesn't believe in the divinity of Jesus or of the Koran. Like most others in our age of faith-based nonsense her true belief seems to be about her own emotions. She feels that she's both Christian and Muslim, and all the rest is window-dressing. Who cares what others might say you have to believe to be either one. She feels that she's both.

Mark Steyn, from whom I got the story, says it's never wise to satirize the Episcopal Church. Maybe so. But someone ought to pass the message to their bishops so they stop doing it to themselves.