Robert S. Heaney

Man has been segregating groups of people into "we" or "in-group" and "them" or the "out-group" from the time of early man. The "others" are often not befriended but are shunned and feared. One only has to fill-in-the-blank who is in the in-group and in the out-group. If the two groups never interact on a personal and respectful manner, the ostracization is almost guaranteed to continue.

The editors of this book, all associated with Virginia Theological Seminary and Christian and Muslim, serve as apologists for Christian-Muslim engagement providing a number of examples how such interactions have successfully occurred. A common thread underlying many of these interactions is intentional friendships on a one-to-one basis, which are respectful of each one's story and faith journey. I thought that the criteria for constructive conversations included in the final chapter could be applied with some modification to almost any "we-them" situation. Who knows? It might even be useful in our current contentious national political climate. Hope springs eternal... One of the better books read in Christian-Muslim engagement that I have read.… (meer)