Consider this part two of my writings on Religious Dynamism.

Last night , the Harding University Honors College hosted the L.C. Sears Seminar Series at the American Heritage Auditorium. This year’s event was entitled: “Islam in America: A Dialogue in Faith” and features a discussion between Dr. Monte Cox, Associate Dean of the Harding’s College of Bible and Religion and Dr. Nabil Bayakly of Memphis, Tennessee (for more information read here).

The one thing that struck me as interesting was the stark difference in the demeanor of Dr. Bayakly, an American Muslim, and that of, say, an Arab Muslim. Dr. Bayakly is notably a very “American” person. He talks openly of his American virtues in tolerance, democracy, and politics. To me, this illustrated the cultural gap between two different societies, or to put it in Huntington language, the differences across the “civilization fault line.”

This observation is something I see as religious relativism. That is the relative nature of one’s religious doctrine to where one lives and interacts. This may seem obvious to most, but I think its often overlooked, downplayed, or ignored.

Take for instance, the American Islamic faith vis-a-vis Middle Eastern Islamic faith. The American Islamic faith, as represented by Dr. Bayakly, is tolerant, democratic, existentialist, and supportive of a pluralist society. Dr. Bayakly was insistent on the power of American nationalism to reconcile the cross-religious divide between Christianity and Islam. He was, as I observed, a reform-Muslim, he even showed the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed (of course as an example of religious disrespect).

On the other side of the “civilization fault line” we have someone like Moqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr, the leader of the Mahdi Army, represents the fatalistic nature of Islam in the Middle East (to a certain extent), intolerance of other beliefs, and the autocratic nature of Middle Eastern Islam — a stark contrast to the open-minded Bayakly.

The point is that these two different approaches to Islam are determined by societal and political factors relative to geopolitical realities. In America we are built upon equality, toleration, and religious freedom. The Middle East is built upon “caliphate” philosophy of autocratic regimes, intolerance, and general hostility to outside influences.

Religions are relative to the societies in which they live and breathe. The sooner Americans realize this the better off we are as a tolerant society.