Do I Promote Chrislam?

Do I promote Chrislam? The short answer is no. The fact is, I never heard the word, Chrislam, until I discussed my Peace Catalyst activities with the pastor of the church where I worship.  The pastor warned me about the wickedness of Chrislam. He also used the word, syncretism, which was also a new word for me. Now that I understand what it is, I can say that I do not promote syncretism either.

Let me define these words.  

Chrislam is a movement, attributed to a man by the name of Tela Tella, who, in 1976, founded the Chrislam movement in Lagos, Nigeria, which is the former capital of Nigeria.  The religion combines Christianity and Islam into a single religion. His motivation was to address the violence between Muslims, who are supposed to follow Islam as a religion of peace, and Christians, who are supposed to follow a religion that teaches Christians to love their neighbor as they love themselves. In Nigeria, such peace and love have not prevailed very well.  The goal of Chrislam was to promote peace and love among Muslims and Christians.  While I do not promote Chrislam, I applaud any efforts to promote peace and love among people who take their faith in God seriously.

The second word to define is syncretism.  With respect to religion, it is an attempt to combine two or more religions. So the Chrislam movement is an effort to implement syncretism.

I reiterate that I was not aware of these two words until I met with my pastor in 2019. And I do not promote Chrislam or syncretism.

What I do promote is efforts to find common ground between Christianity and Islam. I am a Program Director with Peace Catalyst International, which is a Christian organization. Peace Catalyst International affirms, “We make peace by bringing together Muslims, Christians, and all our neighbors to build peace with each other and work together for the peace and wellbeing of our communities.”

I maintain a blog entitled, A Divine Wink, which I define as an expression of God's pleasure when people who take their faith in God seriously come together for mutual edification and enlightenment, despite their religious differences. 

To demonstrate more emphatically that I do not promote Chrislam or syncretism, I ask you to understand the following:

• My testimony, starting in 1969.
• My epiphany, which occurred in 1989.
• My journey, which came to a climax in 2019.
• My destiny, that is:  What I see in my future.

My testimony is as follows:  In 1969, I was a senior in high school. Since my parents had no religious inclinations whatsoever, I didn’t either.  I began dating a Christian girl, and I discovered that I could see her frequently if I went with her to the Baptist church that she attended. That led to my very meaningful conversion.  As a church member instructed me, I professed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and the church member assured me that my profession of faith meant that I would go to Heaven when I die.

My conversion was so meaningful to me that it moved me to study theology at Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, where I graduated in 1974. While my goal was to become a Christian pastor, God did not open any doors for me at that time.

In those days, given my profession of faith and my theological education, I firmly believed that Islam was a false religion.

My brother had recently enlisted in the Air Force. I had no other promising opportunities, so I followed his example and enlisted in the Air Force as well.

That brings me to my epiphany.  Fast forward to 1989, I, Captain Wright at that time and an Air Force meteorologist, was in charge of weather operations for the Space Shuttle’s emergency landing sites around the world.  I had to travel to some of these sites with some frequency, to oversee the required weather operations for each Space Shuttle launch . One of the sites was at an air force base near Marrakech, Morocco, where I found myself working with Muslim meteorologists. We became good friends, and we talked a lot about religion. I noted that the way they expressed their faith in God was virtually the same as mine.  On one occasion, during Ramadan, I asked them what they prayed about during their five daily prayer times. One of the things they told me was, that they prayed that God would guide them down the right path.

Their answer and their devotion to God changed my perspective significantly.  I reasoned that their prayer that God would guide them down the right path was certainly a prayer that was in agreement with God’s will.  I learned that Muslims, as well as Christians, believe that God will grant our petitions, when they are in agreement with His will. So, I concluded that God must be granting their petitions for God to guide them down the right path.

That epiphany led to my journey.  As is the case with most people, earning a living occupied a major part of my life.  However, during this 30-year period from 1989 to 2019, I have frequently contemplated my experience with my Moroccan Muslim friends, and I have dedicated much time to studying Islam and the common ground that exists between our two relgions.

During this time I have enjoyed valued friendships with many good, God-fearing Muslims, who take their faith in God just as seriously as I do. I continue to find that there is no significant difference in the way that Christians and Muslims live their daily lives with the goal of submitting to and following God’s will for their lives.

I retired, and, in 2019, I wrote my second romance novel, A Divine Wink: When Love and Religion Become Rivals. My original plan was to write a nonfiction book to emphasize the common ground that exists between Islam and Christianity. Having read the novel, Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe, I decided that making the case for the common ground that exists between Islam and Christianity would be more meaningful by means of a romance novel. In Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe proclaims the Christian gospel while telling the story about how Robinson Crusoe was marooned on an uninhabited tropical island. My novel follows his example. The back cover of the book summarizes the story as follows:

“Adeelah El-Sayed meets Martin Webster, a Christian--a dangerous liaison for a Muslim woman that leads to a private war.  The first battle comes from within.  Adeelah knows this attraction to a non-Muslim man is unacceptable in her Islamic world.  But she loses this battle.  She cannot overcome the forbidden love that invades her soul, and she hopelessly surrenders.  Together Martin and Adeelah face more attacks from mosque, church, and their two families, all because they dare to love each other.  Then two more unexpected attacks:  A kidnapping attempt to force Adeelah into a marriage with a Muslim man and a white supremacist attack.”

“In the Christian New Testament, God winked at the ignorance of Greek philosophers on Mars Hill who worshipped an unknown god. Martin and Adeelah find that God still winks today--a Divine wink at the ignorance that separates two, God-fearing people who take their faith in God seriously, an ignorance that conspires to keep them apart.”

This is a story that will make you laugh and make you cry, if you read the book, and I urge you to do so. But you will also find that Martin Webster convinces the Imam at the mosque, where Adeelah goes to pray, as well as the pastor of the church that Martin attends, that they should accept Martin and Adeelah’s desire to be together. In that effort he demonstrates the significant common ground that exists between Christianity and Islam.

We now come to what I see as my destiny.  I have often wondered why God would lead me to study theology without leading me into the Christian ministry. I now believe that God’s plan was for me to promote His Devine winks, which does not ask Christians or Muslims to change their religion, and therefore is not Chrislam or syncretism..

Again, I define a divine wink as an expression of God's pleasure, when people, who take their faith in God seriously, come together for mutual edification and enlightenment, despite their religious differences. I believe God is dissatisfied with the divisive, zealous, religious arguments that unnecessarily separate good, God-fearing people. I find that most religious misunderstandings occur because of differences in perspective rather than differences in belief. The words “divine wink” are derived from Acts 17:30 in the New Testament, which says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.”

You can own my novel by going to www.adivinewink.com.

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