Ramadan Kareem!

To our Muslim friends who read this blog, Ramadan Kareem.

And if you are a Christian or other faith tradition, here’s a challenge: take a few minutes to study up on the month of Ramadan, a month-long Islamic holiday of fasting and spiritual renewal. Or go out on a limb and . . . gulp . . . ASK a Muslim about Ramadan. Doing so will not destroy your current beliefs, only expand them. Perhaps you’ll find that Christianity and Islam aren’t so different after all. Perhaps you’ll make a new friend.

Continuing in his outreach efforts to the Islamic world, President Barack Obama sets a great example:

While I’m sure that some will take this as a sure sign that Obama is secretly a Muslim himself — although he has REPEATEDLY identified himself as a Christian — to me, this is yet another promising gesture for Christian-Muslim relations. If a U.S. president can speak respectfully of another religion and its believers, why can’t the rest of us? Most Muslims and most Christians seek peace. Those who want some sort of holy war are in the minority. A loud and sometimes violent minority, but a minority nonetheless.

Learn about Ramadan. Here’s a start. And the BBC has this from a Muslim woman sharing what Ramadan is like for her.

Peace be upon you!