Giving Peace a Chance

Early responses indicate that Christian leaders are welcoming the "Common Word" with open arms. In Britain the bishop of London told NEWSWEEK that the letter would "invite" young people to view the world as "a place where dialogue is possible, instead of a place full of threats." America's evangelical Christian leaders are being similarly positive. Rod Parsley, senior pastor of the World Harvest Church in Ohio, says, "My prayer is that this letter begins a dialogue that results in Muslims and Christians uniting around the love we have for each other as God's children."

Even with such endorsements, the question remains: Will the letter have any practical impact? Could it possibly help reduce the incidence of violent extremism and terrorism? Experts hope that because the letter's authors have millions of followers in both the Muslim and Christian worlds the answer is a (very qualified) yes. "Given that there's no simple one-off solution to terrorism," says Cambridge's Ford, "this letter does have all the elements necessary to move in that direction." Among those elements are the authors' solidarity on the subject of nonviolence and their clear plea for greater understanding between followers of the two faiths.

Jordan's Royal Institute sees the letter as the first step in a long process of opening up peaceful dialogue between Muslims and other religions around the world. A letter to the Jews is already in the works; the seeds of the next effort are evident in the current letter's quotations not only from the New Testament but also from the Torah. Eventually, says Nayed, the Muslim signatories plan to write a missive to the secular community. "The world is a garden," says Nayed. "We can focus on the weeds or we can focus on the fruit. And we are choosing to focus on the fruit."

© 2007