We have all seen that nasty little piece of tripe, supposedly
 authored by Ben Stein. Part of it was, but much of it was added
 later and rewritten by others. It was nothing better than an
 attack on those who do not share the right wing extremist vision
 of religion, and Stein was pandering to them.

 This piece was written by an immigrant from Pakistan, a Muslim,
 and a person who doesn't feel the need to pander to right wing
 victimology.

 This is so much better than Stein is capable of.

 From the Toledo Blade.
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 Article published December 28, 2009

 Share the spirit of the season


 FOUR years ago, I wrote a column on the secularization of
 Christmas. In that piece I lamented the fact that many people
 are substituting the generic word "holiday" for the politically
 incorrect word Christmas. Christmas is, in case we need a
 reminder, the celebration of the birth of Christ.

 I am aware that a religious holiday can cause some discomfort
 for those who profess a different faith. But instead of being
 swept away in a this-is-not-our-holiday mode, consider thinking
 in more inclusive terms. One can partake of the spirit of
 Christmas without compromising one's own beliefs.

 We live in a pluralistic society where we have all shades of
 religious beliefs and disbeliefs. To appreciate and enjoy the
 religious holidays of others is not the negation of our
 individual beliefs. So, instead of spending Christmas Day at the
 movies, as many Muslims and Jews do, we should get into the
 spirit and enjoy it.

 My own journey toward understanding Christmas started almost 46
 years ago when I arrived in Toledo from Pakistan. Soon
 thereafter, I had the good fortune of meeting Wrey and Bob
 Barber of Perrysburg. They kindly asked me if I would like to
 join them for Christmas Mass at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in
 Maumee. I was struck by the elegance of the service and the
 beauty of the devotional hymns. Through the Barbers, I met the
 Rev. Howard Graham, and we became good friends.

 Mrs. Barber had spent time in Turkey as a young woman and was
 quite familiar with Muslim traditions. She did not invite me
 out of ignorance but in the spirit of sharing the festivities of
 this special holiday with me. For many years, I joined the
 Barbers for Christmas Mass and then enjoyed their warm
 hospitality at their farm on West River Road.

 St. Paul's was the first Christian church I had set foot in.
 Growing up in Peshawar, where a small but vibrant Christian
 community supported one Catholic and three Protestant churches,
 I never had the opportunity or the inclination to visit a
 church. Christian and Muslim communities lived in two parallel
 worlds; they interacted in the workplace and in schools, but
 seldom, if ever, socially. It is all the more interesting that
 well-to-do and affluent Muslims would send their children to
 church-run schools for an education.

 In 1967, a young man arrived from Peshawar to start his
 internship in a Toledo hospital. As luck would have it, bad
 weather diverted his Toledo flight to Indiana and the passengers
 were bused to Toledo in the middle of the night. The young man
 had no clue as to where he was or how to reach his destination.
 A Hindu engineer from Toledo was on the same flight and took the
 new arrival to his home, took care of him, and the next day
 drove him to his destination.

 The young man was at a loss to understand the benevolence and
 generosity of a Hindu stranger. He was still living in the
 post-partition mindset where a Hindu, any Hindu, was an avowed
 enemy. The two wars that India and Pakistan had fought over
 Kashmir had further deepened the distrust and hatred.

 As a Muslim living in America, my life has been enriched by all
 kind of people: Jews, Christians, Hindus, Bahais, Sikhs, and
 Parses, as well as those who do not profess any faith. They
 accepted me for what I am and not what they expected me to be.
 Doing so, we celebrate not only what binds us - for there is
 plenty that does - but also what separates us.

 Last Ramadan, my family and I had the pleasure of inviting a
 Catholic priest, a Jewish couple, a Methodist minister and her
 husband, and a Muslim couple to my home to break the fast with
 us. In a truly fulfilling experience, we sat around the table
 and talked about our respective traditions. The conversation was
 enriched by the wit, wisdom, and thoughtfulness of our guests.
 It reaffirmed my belief that we may profess to different faiths
 but in reality we have so much in common.

 Some Muslims might frown on this kind of interaction and
 acceptance. This reminds me of a story that, to my delight, was
 related in a recent sermon by Imam Farooq of the Islamic Center
 of Greater Toledo. In the year 622, when the Prophet Muhammad
 migrated from Mecca to Medina, he noted that the Jews in the
 city were fasting to observe Passover, which commemorates Moses
 leading the Israelites out of Egypt. The prophet said that
 Muslims as believers in the prophecy of Moses and the story of
 the flight from Egypt, should fast also.

 To this day, many Muslims fast on the 10th day of the Islamic
 month of Muharram in keeping with the tradition of the Prophet,
 even though most of them do not know the real reason behind this
 optional fast.

 Could the birthday of Christ be any less significant for
 Muslims?

 Dr. S. Amjad Hussain is a retired Toledo surgeon whose column
 appears every other week in The Blade.

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BOB KLAHN bob.klahn{at}sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn

... "Church is NOT a Museum for Saints, it is a Hospitial for Sinners"
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