Wilshire Baptist Church in East Dallas will be hosting a Ramadan Feast for their Muslim friends. The idea was sparked by the Dialogue Institute of Dallas, a pro-Muslim group that seeks to proselytize other religions by getting them to engage in religious “dialogues.” Several Jewish synagogues and Mormon churches will also be hosting Ramadan events, with over 20 planned by the Dialogue Institute in the Dallas area alone. This evening, the Wilshire Baptist Church will host the meal commemorating the opening feast of Ramadan.
George Mason, the pastor of the Baptist Church, cluelessly explained to the congregation the advertised motive of the Dialogue Institute, saying, “The Dialogue Institute of the Southwest is a group of moderate Muslim immigrants, primarily from Turkey, inspired by the work of Fetullah Gülen, who believes in peace through education and understanding.”
Of course, the goal of such Muslim-sponsored events is not “peace” in a nation like the United States where violence between religious groups is almost unheard of and statistically non-existent. The goal is what is known to Islamicists as “Da’wah,” the strategy to convert non-Muslims through dialogue, and it is propagandic and deceptive by nature. Those who host or promote such dialogues, such as Fetullah Gülen – mentioned by Pastor Mason above as the founder of the Dialogue Institute – are known as dā‘ī, and are considered missionaries of the Islamic faith. What is happening at the Wilshire Baptist Church is a missionary enterprise of Islam, hosted by a Baptist church and perpetrated upon Baptists.
Ramadan is a month-long celebration that begins with a meal called an Iftar, and is followed by a month of daytime fasting. The pastor wants the church to practice “food diplomacy,” a trendy term used by ecumenists to describe trying to reach common ground with Islamic refugees by inviting them to dinner and following the dietary and food preparatory guidelines set forth by Islamic tradition. The meal at Wilshire Baptist Church will include only that which is Halal, or approved by Islam.
Mason said, ”If we want to be respected by others, we have to respect others. If we want religious liberty for ourselves, we have to defend religious liberty for others, too,“ sounding as though he were parroting the words of SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission Director, Russell Moore.”
“If we want Muslims not to judge Christianity by its worst, most fringe and extreme role models,” Mason said, “but instead by those who seek to represent the spirit of Jesus in a generous way, then we have to be engaged with them personally. Likewise, they want us to know their faith and to judge it by those who are tolerant and peace-loving.“
According to the church website, “[They are] Christian by conviction, Baptist by tradition and ecumenical in spirit.”
Wilshire Baptist Church affirms the 1963 Southern Baptist Faith and Message. For the definition of “website orthodoxy,” click here.
[Editor’s Note: HT Dallas Observer]
