I have spent the last 24 hours immersed in the religion of Islam. And no surprise—we've been in Istanbul, Turkey. You literally see the religion of Mohammed from the window of your airplane. Minarets crowned with golden moons poke high into the sky. And from that vantage point, it's almost staggering to ponder how many of these mosques they're really are.
To walk the streets of Istanbul is to swim in a crowded black sea, made black by the long robes of submissive Muslim women. So thoroughly restrictive are these garments, that those requiring glasses wear them on the outside of their head mask. Only the narrowest of slits is left for their eyes.
One of Istanbul's greatest tourist attractions, construction of the Blue Mosque began in 1609. No wide angle lens is wide enough to capture the sense of scale in its arches, stained glass and—yes–blue tiles.
In this, my second tour walking through the Blue Mosque, I was sensitized to a powerful lesson about Islam. Every male visitor is required to wear long pants—no shorts allowed. All shoes must be removed and carried in a plastic bag, and every woman is thoroughly wrapped in a blue head scarf. Meaning every single visitor desiring entrance must—in a small but significant gesture—bow to the religion of Mohammed.
The not so subtle lesson: Islam bows to nothing and no one. No exceptions.
The minarets are rising up all around us here at home.
But this is a not a time for fear.
This is a time for holy kindness, holy witness, holy boldness.
Yet the Word of God calls us—commands us-–to love our Muslim neighbors in the name of the One before whom “every knee” will someday bow: Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God.