At least I never said that

From Next Reformation (under June 18; permalinks not working):

The Minister looked out over the congregation. Around 2,000 had gathered for morning worship in this surburb of Sydney, Australia. Every eye was on him as they awaited his message for that morning. ìMany of you are here, but you donít want to be here,î he began. ìYou are tired of church but come out of obligation. My suggestion is that you leave and donít come back. But if I can be of any help in what you end up doing for the kingdom, then give me a call.î It wasnít the only thing he said, but I have confirmed from the Minister that this remarkable invitation actually did happen. It reflected his belief that modern church structures and life stifle true engagement with the world, and that church can be seen in broader ways than we have traditionally come to define it.

Comments

[Waleed]

I think that's true of many many faiths nowadays as well. Houses of worships have turned into houses of noises, where a speaker stands up and delivers his speech, only to have it recieved as white noise. I know. I've been through that myself as an audience member in various different houses of faith. Hence, I call my Islam (my religion), an intelligent Islam because the places I like to go and discuss religion, well, we're smart about things. We don't preach if nobody wants to be preached to. We don't discuss creed if nobody wants their creed to be examined at that moment. We don't do anything you don't want to. And I think that, that is beautiful, logical and humane. As a matter of fact, that's preached in the Quran itself: "Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things." 2:256 That's how I like to live my life. Intelligent faith.