Splashed across the pages of history are the crimson reminders of those times the Crescent has encountered the Cross. Our modern age of silence and reserve – at least about all the important things – renders discussion of these encounters difficult. In times gone by religions could be weighed on the scales of rationality and debated by the juries of the world. There stood Christianity before the jury of Europe, and Europe (for a time) accepted it. There stood Puritanism before the jury of England and the English rejected it. But now one may not even consider the Crescent without being accused of suffering from a “phobia”, another reminder of how far science has intruded on our common discourse. ‘Phobia’ implies an unhealthy, extreme sort of fear; yet everyday we practice, very sensibly, a healthy moderated sort of fear. “Will that car hit me if I try to turn?” “Will this food give me gas and ruin my date?” “Is this door-to-door evangelist after my soul or my savings?” Yet, I cannot once think of an analysis of the Crescent being seen as this second sort of fear, the careful, rational kind. But despite the naysayers and the common enemies of free speech, I must voice my concerns about the Crescent and what its end is for my beloved Cross.
These reflections are prompted by a timidly worded headline in my local newspaper, here on the East Side of St. Paul: “St. John’s Church finds new owner: Will be an Islamic Faith Center.” The parish in question was recently “decommissioned” (an insipid word used to veil the reality that a congregation died). The priest of the neighboring St. Pascal Baylon, Fr. Byron, said, innocently enough, “It’s good that it’s going to continue to be used as a sacred space.” The director of the new Islamic Center, Hassan Hassan, “said the interior will stay roughly as is for now, noting that although his organization is of a different faith, there’s not going to be a significant change in use.” To these two points, I must beg to differ.
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