I think Seventh-day Adventist Christians ought to live peaceably with each other. Furthermore, we ought to live peaceably with all others, including Muslims. I have plenty of conversations on the topic of Adventist-Muslim relations, and not long into such conversations, the criticism is often leveled at Muslims that those who are moderate and peace-loving are not doing enough to put down the lunatic fringe of their religion who are conducting terrorist acts. When I hear such criticism, I often wonder:

What have we done as moderate, peace-loving Christians to put down the lunatic fringe of Christianity?

What source of news and information do you turn to for accurate information?

Which Muslim group or person have you talked with to learn what they are or are not doing to help promote a moderate and peace-loving Islam?

Allow me two quick examples:

Last week a momentous event occurred in the Muslim religion. Did you hear about it on the news you watch? Read about it in the papers or Internet sites you visit? Thirty-eight religious leaders from all branches of Islam gathered together at The Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute in Amman, Jordan, and agreed upon the text of an open letter to Christianity. The title of the document is "A Common Word Between Us and You." You can read it at www.acommonword.com. In this document the Imams urge the idea that we can live peaceably together. They say, in part, "The basis for this peace and understanding already exists. It is part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour. These principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity. The Unity of God, the necessity of love for Him, and the necessity of love of the neighbour is thus the common ground between Islam and Christianity."

Of course it was not simply addressed to Christians but to Muslims as well. I wonder, is there some good reason why we would not respond positively to such people as these? Yet, I've heard almost nothing in the popular press and mass media about this document and these leaders.

Lachman Kurt, a Muslim whose mother was Turkish and father Bosnian, was raised in Bosnia and found himself fighting on the Muslim side in the war over Bosnia and Herzegovina. As he told us how he had sunk to levels of barbarism that he did not think humanly possible, tears welled in his eyes. The fact that he could cry was due, in part, to the work of other Muslims whom he had met in the embattled streets of Sarajevo.

You see, in the midst of this war, a group of Muslims who believed in living peaceably with others made their way into the city. They were on a quest to start a school in a local Muslim neighborhood. Into the routine secular curriculum of their school they interjected a peace-oriented world view. It permeated the entire school and soon it spread to the entire neighborhood.

Lachman Kurt's life was changed by the presence and witness of these beautiful Muslim people, and our hearts were moved as we saw the difference it made in his life. The people who established this school now have schools in more than 100 countries around the world. Their spiritual mentor is one Fethullah Gülen, and you can read about his effort to promote peace at www.fgulen.com.

Are moderate Muslims doing something to thwart the spread of terror and terrorists in our world? You better believe it! What are you doing to promote peace?