Hey, saw your comment on thetheologianscafe. Please read mine there (it’s on the first page), as you clearly have no idea what you were talking about.

RYC: We are all ignorant.

Your first statement is an attack. Your second statement is a blanket statement covering all mankind. Most people will take offense from an attack, including me. But I let it go long enough that I could write a response, as politely as I could manage. Please don’t try to go back and cover up your attack by laying this blanket statement, because your original intention clearly was to insult me and correct my way of thinking. “Please read mine… as you clearly have no idea what you were talking about.” Clearly, this is a direct comparison between your ideology and mine, where you assign my opinions and contributions as worthless. Let’s just accept that you were rude and move on. As for me, I am done with this matter.

For the subject matter at hand:

Your comment:
I don’t really understand how you can say “I see that we have different perspectives.” I wasn’t talking about perspectives; I was talking about facts. The fact is, Allah is the Arabic name for God. Do you object to Hispanic people calling God “Dios?” If not, there’s really no reason to object to the Arabic name for God, either.

My comment (from Theos cafe):
While calling God Allah, is technically the same thing, it carries a cultural connotation that cannot be separated. It is my opinion, and I respectfully disagree from yours, that we should be careful to make that distinction.

So to flesh this out some more, I don’t think it harms the person nor does it harm their relationship with God to call Him Allah. Christians in the Middle East who call God Allah are not sinning nor are they offending God. However, when a priest in the Western world starts saying we should call God Allah just to appease the Muslims, then it gets confusing. There is a cultural connotation with the word Allah. If I started preaching Allah to my friends, they would be confused because they would think I converted. If I went on the street and said “Praise Allah,” people would think I’m a Muslim and maybe even a terrorist. Surely, all of these problems I am mentioning will go away if people were to be educated to the meaning of the word Allah. But until that happens, the cultural connotations of the word Allah still rules the majority, and using the word in place of God will only cause confusion and stir up trouble.

So to clarify our two different perspectives – we both agree that Allah means God, and that they can be used interchangeably. Your perspective: This is ok. My perspective: I wouldn’t do it. There are other names of God that are more important and meaningful. I would rather focus on educating my friends about those names – the God of peace, the God of provision, the Almighty God…. These names mean more to them than Allah alone. Educating my friends about these names means I am educating them about the character of God.

Again, I agree that Allah and God mean the same thing. If you feel that this is important for you to educate people about how all things Arabic are not muslim, please, by all means, continue to do so. Who am I to judge what God has placed on your heart to do? As for me, I have my own burdens to bear, and I am choosing to fight different battles than you.

We are both brothers in Christ. Let’s end this amiably.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

In Christ,
Alban