Mark Absher
9-23-10
9:00am
Due to the lack of Mosques in Moscow some Muslims may have to resort to praying in churches. As the Muslim population continues to expand in Russia, and really in the rest of the world as well, the Muslims are meeting resistance. In Moscow there are nearly one million Muslims, yet they claim to only have four Mosques. So recently they attempted to attain permits and the like to build a new Mosque in a “green” area of Moscow. People, non-Muslims, demonstrated against this proposed building. The local residents claimed that the addition of a Mosque in this area would lead to traffic and parking congestion, and funniest of all would lead to endangerment of their dogs. I was not aware that some Muslims view dogs as the incarnation of the devil, but this is what some claim.
What solution do some offer? Well, the Orthodox Church has allowed Muslims to use their churches for prayer. Obviously, that does not suit all of their needs but could be a temporary fix. Some also claim that the Muslim’s claim of a million faithful in Moscow is overstating their true numbers and that besides the four main Mosques there are numerous smaller Mosques.
This is another example of countries failing to reach amicable solutions. The Christians are afraid of Muslim’s moving into to their comfort areas, so instead of reaching out they make half-hearted attempts at peace, in the case the use of their churches. Why not allow them the same privilege to worship in their own Mosque or church or temple or whatever they use? There will always be fear of the unknown and the minority but the only true resolution is to embrace, learn, and accept those that are unlike us. Russia has had a hard time of this, going from Communism which banned almost all church type activity, to its pseudo form of Democracy. Maybe its growing pains in this regard will die down; it just does not seem likely to happen any time soon.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Moscow,-Muslims-may-end-up-praying-in-churches-19500.html
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