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Meet Rev. Ann Holmes Redding - or, as she might otherwise be known, Abu Sybil:
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.
Christmas ham must be a struggle.
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.
The ham deal aside, other theological issues are involved:
"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, California ... “I don’t think it’s possible” to be both, Fredrickson said, just like “you can’t be a Republican and a Democrat."
Redding, who will begin teaching the New Testament as a visiting assistant professor at Seattle University this fall, has a different analogy: “I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I’m both an American of African descent and a woman. I’m 100 percent both."
Not exactly a parallel analogy, that. One can easily be both an an American of African descent and a woman; it’s a little more difficult to be both an American of African descent and, let’s say, a Swedish bookshelf.
She says she felt an inexplicable call to become Muslim, and to surrender to God — the meaning of the word “Islam."
"It wasn’t about intellect,” she said.
You don’t say.
(Via Sandi)
UPDATE. “It’s a bit like trying to travel simultaneously along the Pacific Highway and the Hume Highway - not only is it impossible to do both, but you end up in very different destinations!”
UPDATE II. As Mark Steyn reminds us, Scrappleface predicted this four years ago.
For Christians, public Divine revelation ended with the death of the Apostles. There were and are no more prophets, in the salvific-eschatological sense. Mohammed, to Christians, is of no more salvational relevance than L. Ron Hubbard or Donald Duck. A Christian claiming to be a Muslim is, ipso facto, a heretic and presumably an apostate - as well as an idiot. Given that this woman also claims to be a “priest”, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. Abu Sybil needs an Abu Basil to coax his “little nest of vipers” back to reality.
This brings up an issue that I have often thought about whenever muslims go on about how they are more tolerant because they view Jesus as a prophet and revere him as such, but Christians extend no such courtesy to Mohammed. The thing is JC went on and on about being the son of God, which muslims say he isn’t, so to them he must be a liar. Either he was the son of God, which goes against Islam, or he is a liar, and thus not a particularly compelling prophet.
So no, you cannot be both, and if you claim to be, you are, as mentioned above, neither. But it shows the level at which the current Episcopalian church is that they allow her to continue as a pastor.
Posted by Not My Problem on 2007 06 18 at 12:40 PM • permalink(with a hat tip to mojo at #7)-
Son: “Hey! You got Islam all over my Christianity!”
Daughter: “But you got Christianity all over my Islam!”
Mom (looking something like June Al-Isan in a burqa): “Now, now, kids! There’s no need to squabble. Look! You’ve created a brand new religion: Reese’s Insanity!!”
Kids (in unison): “MMMMM.... Delicious, Mom!!”
Posted by Tex Lovera on 2007 06 18 at 12:59 PM • permalinkThis dame is a good example of why the Episcopalian Church is declining while many charismatic churches are bursting at the seams in attendance. Same goes for the Methodists (hush voice: “we will now say a prayer, quietly") and Presbyterians ("we do not judge here, everyone is right is the eyes of the Lord").
* please note: I have attended the services for all three churches, having slept through most of them.
Posted by wronwright on 2007 06 18 at 01:02 PM • permalink"just like I’m both an American of African descent and a woman. I’m 100 percent both.”
Gender is not origin, origin is not gender. Of Christianity and Islam, which is not a religion? She is obviously (in this analogy) stating that the two are totally unrelated and have no bearing whatsoever on each other. I could buy that if Christianity were a hobby and Islam a type of car.
“I am a knitter and a Holden driver. I am 100% both.” kind of works but “I am simultaneously driving both a Ford and a Holden to the shops this morning” kind of doesn’t.
What part of any religion is about intellect?
Posted by Harry Eagar on 2007 06 18 at 01:10 PM • permalinkMy pleasure, paco. And a belated B’day to you!
Posted by Tex Lovera on 2007 06 18 at 01:11 PM • permalinkFredrickson said, just like “you can’t be a Republican and a Democrat.”
Yeah, Go tell that to John McCain.
Posted by joe bagadonuts on 2007 06 18 at 01:12 PM • permalink“I am both Muslim and Christian, just like I’m both an American of African descent and a woman. I’m 100 percent both.”
Like being 100% man, and 100% woman is a better analogy.....
paco.....easy on my Tigers, after last season a better one would be a Detroit Lions fan and an optimist!
Posted by Old Tanker on 2007 06 18 at 01:18 PM • permalinkI think this might be more her reward.
Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 06 18 at 01:19 PM • permalink#3: “Mohammed, to Christians, is of no more salvational relevance than L. Ron Hubbard or Donald Duck.”
I beg to differ, CL. Donald Duck has much more relevance - salvational or otherwise - than mo-ham-head (bees pee upon him).
(L. Ron’s just a nut.)
Posted by Barbara Skolaut on 2007 06 18 at 01:32 PM • permalinkMaybe the ABC and CBC can split on producing The Vicar of Abu Dhibley?
Posted by andycanuck on 2007 06 18 at 01:54 PM • permalink#25, at least you were around when they one it, I wasn’t yet a gleam in my parents eye!
Posted by Old Tanker on 2007 06 18 at 01:54 PM • permalinkAnd why is the Episcopal Church allowing her to continue as a priest?
Paco, as long as you’re not a Chicago Cubs fan and an optimist.
What’s interesting is that she doesn’t mention being Jewish as well. All three religions share (basically) the Old Testament, so why isn’t Redding embracing that as well.
Personally I think that Islam is just a deeply heretical form of Christianity, its only distinction being that it survived the dark ages thanks to a series of bizarre and unlikely events. So call yourself a Christian Muslim by all means but be prepared to look just as stupid as the Christian Marxists, the gay Muslims and that black Neo-Nazi I saw on Jerry Springer.
You’re missing the positive side. She’s an Episcopal Priest with a devout belief in God. How many other American Episcopal Priests can you say that about?
Posted by Bruce Rheinstein on 2007 06 18 at 02:10 PM • permalinkI guarantee that while the Reverend Holmes Redding’s Episcopalian flock might accept her as a Muslim, her Muslim flock most definitely will not accept her as a Christian. Not only that, but she will never be accepted as an imam, either, since that status is reserved for men only. In short, the Reverend Holmes Redding is a freakin’ fool who thinks that choosing her religious beliefs is like shopping in Wal-Mart.
My first thought on reading the article was that Redding is indeed an apostate in the eyes of Islam. But how likely is it that she may be the forerunner of a new form of taqiyya, where a multi-culture type tolerance is pretended?
Not much, probably. The simpler solution is that she’s an idiot.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 06 18 at 02:56 PM • permalinkAnd, by the way, I think that Mickey Mouse is FAR more relevant than Donald Duck. But both are light years ahead of both Hubbard and Mohammed The Profit.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 06 18 at 02:58 PM • permalinkI troll the Intertubes daily for a good laugh. Usually, I get nothin’.
Christmas ham must be a struggle.
That caused my co-workers to ask me what I was reading.
Posted by Rittenhouse on 2007 06 18 at 03:11 PM • permalinkMy parish departed the Episcopal Church more than three years ago for the oversight of an Anglican Rwandan Archbishop and every significant development since then has confirmed, to me, that we made the right move. The Episcopal “Church” has rapidly degenerated an utter laughingstock, filled with drum-thumping pagans, flaming homosexuals, Druids and now, Muslims. These nutcases are going to make the Unitarians look like Greek Orthodox before all’s said and done.
Posted by Jeffersonian on 2007 06 18 at 03:20 PM • permalinkYour right, Donald Duck has nothing to do with religion. Daffy Duck on the other hand, is the patron saint of frustration.
Posted by MikeTheLibrarian on 2007 06 18 at 03:39 PM • permalinkBelow is another exerpt from the article Tim linked. She does not believe in orthodox
Christian tenets, which fits fine with todays episcopal church.I am a Christian, of the dreaded evangelical type, and what I have read in the koran and seen in the works of Islam, there is nothing in common between the two.
Debi
.............................................
She believes the Trinity is an idea about God and cannot be taken literally.She does not believe Jesus and God are the same, but rather that God is more than Jesus.
She believes Jesus is the son of God insofar as all humans are the children of God, and that Jesus is divine, just as all humans are divine — because God dwells in all humans.
............................................#42: I’m with Debi. I’m a Catholic, and if I don’t want to accept Catholic dogmas, that’s fine; nobody’s going to make me. But if I reject fundamental Catholic beliefs, it would be absurd for me to claim to be Catholic, let alone to expect to be received into the clergy. A religion, like any other group, has the right in a free society to define its mission and to determine the terms of membership. The inclusion of “Abu Sibyl” as a continuing member in good standing of the Anglican priesthood only serves to perpetuate the idea that the Anglican church is rapidly becoming a social activist organization under the nominal leadership of Jesus Christ, Chairman Emeritus.
Is this like being an “Atheist Catholic”, eh?
Posted by Quentin George on 2007 06 18 at 05:22 PM • permalinkAnd how can Goofy, a dog, own Pluto, another dog? Or is this one of Mysteries that we humans are incapable of understanding?
Oh. my. God.
I never thought of it that way.
You’re right, its… its… impossible!Posted by daddy dave on 2007 06 18 at 05:52 PM • permalink#42
In that case, she’s neither Episcopalian Christian (denies the trinity and the incarnation of Christ) nor Muslim (thinks Jesus divine).
She, is, in fact, an Arian, and should stop pretending to be otherwise.
Posted by Quentin George on 2007 06 18 at 05:53 PM • permalink#43/45 It sounds like the Church of Sullivanalogy using the motto, “More Catholic than the Pope.”
Posted by andycanuck on 2007 06 18 at 05:54 PM • permalinkMy brother-in-law brought home a girlfriend once, way back, when he was just out of high school and me in Uni. She was talking about star signs, so I asked her if she believed in astrology. Why yes, she did believe in astrology. On a hunch, I asked her if she believed in God. Why yes, she did believe in God. I told her she couldn’t do both.
Never saw her again. Hope my comment didn’t sour the relationship (doubt it). Pity, really; she wasn’t bad looking by any means. I’ve felt a nagging guilt ever since, and have never challenged anyone’s partner since.
Wouldn’t be surprised to find a lot of people out there professing belief in mutually exclusive tenets. Many people feel very nervous saying “no”, like it’s a form of discrimination. Or like, “I’m so good, I believe in everything!”
(And I’m the Dalek, screaming DIS-CRIM-IN-ATE!)
Wasn’t it on one of the Bob Newhart Shows where his (always) unseen boss said (paraphrased) “the ability to hold two mutually contradictory ideas in one’s mind at the same time is a sign of genius—or is that insanity?”
Posted by JorgXMcKie on 2007 06 18 at 06:45 PM • permalink#40 & 47
And how can Goofy, a dog, own Pluto, another dog? Or is this one of Mysteries that we humans are incapable of understanding?
Oh. my. God.
I never thought of it that way.
You’re right, its… its… impossible!No it isn’t. My mother’s poodle believed he owned her chihuahua. The chihuahua was his dog, and he grew very anxious whenever anyone picked it up. Compare this attitude to, say, Muslim marriage.
One wonders how Rev. Ann Holmes Redding can reconcile Christianity’s belief that Christ is the Son of God and died on the cross for mankind and rose from the dead - with Islam’s view of Jesus.
Islam teaches that Christ is not the Son of God.
Islam teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross but that Judas Iscariot was crucified in the place of Jesus.Muslims equally affirm that Jesus (Isa) will return to earth from heaven sometime before the end of the world to punish the Christians and break all the crosses and that Jesus will die a natural death and later be resurrected to be judged with all men during the last days.
How can Rev. Ann Holmes Redding reconcile these completely opposite views of Jesus?
My first thought when I read about this was this woman will be lucky if she isn’t killed by some Muslim fanatic for blasphemy.
Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 06 18 at 08:29 PM • permalinkThis is exactly where anyone who wants to live a Christian life would go up to the Rev and rebuke her. She is acting in a manner comparable to how Rev Haggard acted in disregarding the fundamentals of her Faith. Her congregation must either be unaware of her dual spiritual life, or feel unable to confront her.
Cheers,
StevePosted by fankytomato on 2007 06 18 at 08:45 PM • permalinkThe hardest part about being a Christian Muslim is cutting your own head off.
You get about half way through and then everything just goes black…
Also - would you end up in purgatory or get all those virgins the other guys are always promised? Big questions.
Posted by Hump B Bare on 2007 06 18 at 09:11 PM • permalink#40 rbj1
And how can Goofy, a dog, own Pluto, another dog? Or is this one of Mysteries that we humans are incapable of understanding?
Easily. After all, some muslims own other humans as slaves.
Posted by flying pigs over mecca on 2007 06 18 at 11:20 PM • permalinkShouldn’t she be Umm Sybil (mother of Sybil) instead of Abu Sybil (father of Sybil)? I’d suggest bint Sybil (daughter of). The implication of psychiatric disorder is spot on.
Alas, Seattle U is one of my alma maters. It’s a Jesuit school, why is it hiring a freaking Episcopal apostate priest to teach religion there? Oops, I forgot the Jesuit part. I guess it makes sense now.
I suppose if the Archbishop of Canterbury can be a druid then a priest can be a Muslim at the same time as being a Piskie. My head hurts now.
On another topic, administration of the International Neocon Conspiracy, I have had an email from a friend. He has come to a startling conclusion.
This reminds me. I’ve been doing some reading into a few historical crimes, especially late 19th Century ones, studying the techniques used by the police. One of the crimes were the Whitechapel murders. A couple of Englishmen have spun a theory that involved Lord Randolph Churchill and Sir William Gull (the latter was Physician in Ordinary to the Prince of Wales). They committed the murders to hide Prince Albert Victor’s marriage to a commoner who was (gasp!) a Roman Catholic.
I’ve now concluded that this this theory, like several others, does not hold water.
Bush did it.
Or, rather, Dick Cheney and Bush arranged for it to happen to cover up their secret plot to get the British to invest in the petroleum fields of the Persian Gulf so, 115 years later, they could enrich their friends at Halliburton. That there’s no evidence just showes how thorough their cover-up is. And for those who think that something happening when GWB’s great-grandfather was just a boy obviously don’t know the insidious nature of Bush.It looks like Wronwright used the Tardis for some moonlighting. Wronwright, you were supposed to be getting more Sumerian mead for Karl’s next orgy, not settling personal scores for Bush or Cheney. Besides, you’re supposed to take orders only from the real chief, Karl, or his designated minions. That status does not include either Bush or Cheney, as you well know.
The Tardis is expensive to run. It must not be used for frivolous missions.
Posted by Michael Lonie on 2007 06 18 at 11:20 PM • permalinkLonie,
Do you see me advise you on how to turn on and off the Japanese weather machine? No. Assuming I knew how to turn off the Japanese weather machine. (wronwright’s right eye twitches)
I’m highly trained on the operation of the Tardis. Okay, not exactly highly trained. This guy spent 5 minutes showing me the controls and ducked out for a drink at the pub. The only problem is I can’t exactly remember which pub and which century that was. And thank you very much paco for pulling that lever sending us careening through time before that dude came back.
But the key thing to remember is the Tardis is in capable hands. You can tell Mr. Know-It-All (was that Mental Floss again? Damn it Mental Floss, stop the conspiracy theories!) that I take orders from Karl. Does that include going back to late 19th century England and instigating a cover up involving the Crown and the Grand Masonic Lodge? I cannot say.
Posted by wronwright on 2007 06 19 at 12:16 AM • permalinkkae,
You Hayley Mills doppelganger. You know very well I said “in capable” hands, not “incapable hands”. As in my incapa, er, I mean, in my capable hands. Capable hands. Yes.
Posted by wronwright on 2007 06 19 at 12:24 AM • permalinkWhat a disgrace - I am almost physically sick.
Remember these words: “I am the way, the truth and the life. Nobody comes to the Father, but by me”.
That is fundamentally incompatible with Islam which sees Jesus as only a prophet and, moreover, one who did not die on the Cross.
If you don’t believe in the divinity of Jesus, and don’t believe that He died in the Cross, then you should turn in your ecclesiastical collar (are you listening, Bishop Spong?)
Posted by Apparatchik on 2007 06 19 at 01:33 AM • permalinkI agree Apparatchik. I cannot believe that she hasn’t been stood down from clerical duty.
There’s a terrific site here which does a good job of pointing out the irreconcilable theological differences between Christianity and Islam.
-- Nora
Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2007 06 19 at 01:36 AM • permalinkOoh, here’s some fun from Ask an imam:
Q: As for the punishment of stoning a person to death, are we as Muslims supposed to also follow the rule of Jesus whom said “Only those of you who are sinless may cast the first stone”. Or can someone who has sinned stone another person to death?
A:The Bible is replete with additions and inconsistencies. We are compelled to adhere to the Qur’aan and Hadith as our source of guidance and not the abrogated teachings of Eesa (Alayhis salaam).
Every human being except the Ambiyaa (Alayhis salaam) is a sinner. If we apply the aforementioned principle to the punishment of stoning, the penal code of Islam will fall apart. In short, sinners can also stone adulteress to dead provided the punishment is carried out within the Islamic framework of the penal code.
Perhaps Ann Holmes Redding would like to reconcile that at her Sunday sermon and Friday prayers.
-- Nora
Posted by The Thin Man Returns on 2007 06 19 at 01:47 AM • permalinkbeing an islamo-christian does create some conundrums.
If she becomes a martyr for Islam, will she skip the new vacuum cleaner that women martyrs normally get and ask for the 72 virgins just so she can keep them that way?
If as is is likely she gets a fatwa issued against her, does she be a good Muslim and kill her other self? Is she then a martyr for dying while performing Allah’s duty (refer virgins) or is she doomed to a life in hell for killing herself in defiance of God’s wishes?
And will her 72 angelic midgets be Cherubims, Seraphims or Little ‘uns?
Ok. She’s a certifiable fruitloop. Three things:
- Muslims find the concept of the Divine Conception to be haram. They see it as an implication that God is a rapist.
- When she became a Muslim she would have recited, 3 times, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his Prophet”. How the hell does she reconcile this with being a Christian?
- How the hell is she going to enter the Hijaz for the Hajj???!?!
#62 Her congregation must either be unaware of her dual spiritual life, or feel unable to confront her.
Or, more likely, she gathered together a congregation of fools like herself and they all agree with her.
#79 Muslims find the concept of the Divine Conception to be haram. They see it as an implication that God is a rapist.
Interesting that they see that as a minus, considering how often they like to apply that tactic themselves.
#75
“There’s a terrific site here which does a good job of pointing out the irreconcilable theological differences between Christianity and Islam.”Nora, I don’t think Abu Sybil read either the koran or the hadiths. As a priest(ess) of another religion she converted because she was “drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers”. After an introduction?? How genuine is that? She’s just another Seattle loony. Apologies to any readers from the northwest United States.
She’s just another Seattle loony. Apologies to any readers from the northwest United States.
No apologies necessary, Crossie. Everyone with half a mind in the Pacific Northwest knows Seattle is second only to Portland as a safe haven for fruits and nuts.
Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2007 06 19 at 04:35 PM • permalink#69 Wronwright,
I’m not questioning your abilities in running the Tardis. I’m just saying…Riiing! (Picks up telephone.)
Hello. Oh hi Paco, good to hear from you. Happy belated birthday. What’s that? No I don’t think this is the time to bring up that lake. Nor that trip either. And not that one. I’m just trying to make a point here. Yeah, well...hello? Hello? (hangs up).
Now what was I going to say? Damn, I forgot.
Posted by Michael Lonie on 2007 06 20 at 12:55 AM • permalink
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