Can you have multiple faiths?
Is it possible to practice two faiths?
An Episcopal priest has been expelled from her position for refusing to recant her faith in Islam.
Church officials in Rhode Island first learned in 2007 that Ann Holmes Redding had become a Muslim, when she recited the Shahadah, the Muslim profession of faith. In it, Muslims profess their belief that Allah as the only God and Muhammad as his prophet.
Rhode Island Bishop Geralyn Wolf gave Redding time to examine her beliefs and withdraw from Islam before defrocking her, according to AP. Wolf described Redding as a woman of integrity but said an individual cannot practice two religions at the same time.
Redding , who was ordained in Rhode Island 25 years ago, “has previously said she believed the two faiths were compatible and she felt compelled to practice both,” AP reported. Redding now lives in Seattle, where she is a visiting professor at Seattle University.
What do you think. Can you practice more than one faith at a time?
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67 comments Add your comment
Bob
April 1st, 2009
4:15 pm
Christianity is by its essential nature, exclusive. Jesus Christ is the sole means of reconciliation to God. If you don’t believe it, fine. But you cannot serve two masters, and God is a jealous God.
It is inexcusable that it took the Episcopal church 2 years to defrock this idolater.
Ms. Right
April 1st, 2009
4:18 pm
I would find practicing Islam and Christianity difficult to do together. Does Muhammed trump the Messiah? Who are you putting your faith in or are you just placing a bet that one of them is the son or prophet of God? Respecting other religions is a whole other thing – practicing different ones seems as a cop out to me….Jesus Rocks
Pick a name, already!
April 1st, 2009
4:19 pm
Married women with hyphenated names have issues to begin with – they tend to have a chip on their shoulder and an axe to grind – this woman is no exception – I do not think that the major religions are mutually exclusive and anyone who believes that they are is too fanatical and underexposed to take seriously
Layla
April 1st, 2009
4:23 pm
I don’t see how Ms. Redding can believe the 2 faiths are compatible in practice if she has truly done her “homework” on both faiths. The Christian God is a tri-une God- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Allah is not the same god. Muslims may accept Jesus as a prophet, but not a savior; however, Christans do not accept Mohammed as a prophet and believe Jesus is the world’s Messiah. I think this woman is very confused about the basic tenants of these faiths. Maybe she wants to be a unitarian?
Mark
April 1st, 2009
4:25 pm
Please people use a little logic. There is a fundamental, undeniable difference between Islam and Christianity. Logic (the law of identity — A is A) excludes the positilbity that Christianity can be anything but Christianity. The law of the excluded middle (A cannot be non-A) also tells us that Christianity cannot be Christianity and not be Christianity (Islam) at the same time. People without the ability to apply logic cannot be reasoned with.
The Voice
April 1st, 2009
4:26 pm
I don’t understand the problem here. She states she is a worshiper of Muhammad. Fine…wrap yourself up in a shroud, cover your face and stone your daughter if she gets raped. However, you cannot be an Episcopal priest and a a worshiper of the god and prophet picked by every third world country on the planet. they pick this religion because they don’t have to think…they just act. If she moved to the left coast why didn’t she keep on going to …. say the Philippines…they have a lot of covered people there.
Sara
April 1st, 2009
4:27 pm
I’d give her the frock back if she’d wear it over than grotesque Barney outfit. Ick.
Pick, her name isn’t hyphenated. Reading is fundamental.
Bob, Judge not, lest ye be judged in return.
DBH
April 1st, 2009
4:28 pm
Um, why would a practicing Muslim simultenously want to be an Episcopal priest anyway? That’s my question. :-/
J McKenzie
April 1st, 2009
4:28 pm
Not as an ordained clergy! It is impossible to have allegiance to two faith…the “line” will become blur. As a Methodist preacher my beliefs are rooted in Wesleyian theology. Do we borrow things from other faiths at times…yes! For example, we all borrow quotes from Ghandi that may be heard in our sermons. The challenge is how does one effectively lead one that is young/new to the faith. When one feels his or her core values no longer aligned with the faith of their ordination–it’s time to move on.
Steven McDonald
April 1st, 2009
4:28 pm
Christianity is the only way to God and heaven. Jesus is the only way!! Like the other person said you can not have two masters and God is a jelous God. I think this woman is not sure who God is and just wanted to cover all bases just to be sure. I hope she sees the light and comes back to God for her sake. God Bless!
Ray
April 1st, 2009
4:31 pm
Too bad……….Personally, I haven’t met a muslim yet that has much respect respect for our country.
Brandon
April 1st, 2009
4:34 pm
Funny!
Roger
April 1st, 2009
4:36 pm
You cannot have multiple faiths!
Dave
April 1st, 2009
4:37 pm
Sara, reading may be fundamental, but being able to logically reconcile two mutually exclusive precepts is impossible. But you go gal…
aaron r
April 1st, 2009
4:44 pm
It is impossible to be both Christian and Muslim. Here is why. Christians believe that Christ is the only way to salvation, he is the son of God. Islam believes that thier way is the only way and that Jesus was a profit not a god. Infact accorrding to Islamic beliefs Christianity is polytheisism.
Sandra
April 1st, 2009
4:51 pm
She should have been expelled. I do not believe that the two religions are compatible in manner shape or form. I guess I should not have been surprised to learn that she was in the Seattle area.
Beretverde
April 1st, 2009
4:52 pm
Of course you can have multiple faiths… along with multiple wives, muliple sex partners and multiple personalities. It all runs in the land of Confusement!
Simple
April 1st, 2009
4:52 pm
YOU CAN’T SERVE TWO MASTERS HONEY !!!!
Name (required)
April 1st, 2009
4:54 pm
Why are christians the most intolerant people on the planet? Doesn’t the bible tell them to be otherwise?
Joe
April 1st, 2009
4:56 pm
There is only one true master “GOD”
Thy shall not have any other gods before him.
Diana
April 1st, 2009
4:58 pm
Why is this even an issue to discuss and why is it filling up the pages of AJC. Must be a really slow news day or they are just wanting to stir up more religious strife among African Americans. NO, you can’t be Muslim and Christian. Ask a Kindergartener this question. And she certainly can’t serve a Christian church while holding true the principles of a Muslim. DUH!
Bertzilla
April 1st, 2009
4:58 pm
As a life long Episcopalian it’s about time they got something right. Although I don’t see why they defrocked her but wouldn’t defrock John Shelby Spong the Heretic.
Joe
April 1st, 2009
4:58 pm
Hey, named (required)
which bible do you read that would say that??
Melinda
April 1st, 2009
5:00 pm
It sounds to me that she really is doubting her faith in Christianity. To go from Baptist to Methodist is not a far reach. Even the Baptist and Catholics share a lot of common ground in beliefs. But to go from Episcopal to Muslim??? They don’t even share the same GOD. How different can you get? I am very surprised it took the church 2 years to terminate her postion as a leader. To be this confused, she should not be in a leadership/teaching role.
Candy
April 1st, 2009
5:04 pm
If you can believe in one fairy.. why not two!
Uncle Sam
April 1st, 2009
5:06 pm
Priest? What Priest? I didn’t see any priest!
As for beliefs… we all have a free will and can believe whatever we please, BUT we cannot call ourselves Catholic, Methodist, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist (etc.) unless we have the integrity to stick to the tenets of the religion we choose to label ourselves.
CLMW
April 1st, 2009
5:10 pm
There is no way she can reconcil being a muslim and a Christian. My question is why change after 25 yrs in one faith? And why, of all other faiths, muslim? By and large these are not peaceful people & certainly don’t think much of women. Curious..
VoiceOf Reason
April 1st, 2009
5:11 pm
Hi Ray,
Nice to meet you. Many terrorist friends, have you?
VoiceOf Reason
April 1st, 2009
5:13 pm
Listen folks, Aaron R. has obviously done his homework. Finally, someone who knows what he’s talking about.
harry s
April 1st, 2009
5:15 pm
Ronnie White, the comedian, said it succinctly. “You can’t fix stupid!!”
VoiceOf Reason
April 1st, 2009
5:17 pm
Okay, folks, let me share something thats going to blow your minds. Or at least the minds of the folks that say Allah is not the same God as the one the Christians worship. Allah means God in Arabic. Like water and aqua. These are not ‘different’ Gods. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
Now, I am NOT saying that the religions are the same, or even remotely similar, just been wanting to point that out for years….
Andy
April 1st, 2009
5:18 pm
This has got to be an April’s fool joke or this lady is simply a bad joke. I wonder where she received her education? hmmmm…
the real Old Gold
April 1st, 2009
5:18 pm
This is a non-story. Of course she should not be in an official position in one faith and be practicing another. Both of these religions are exclusive ones. She’s not following either correctly. She may as well be nothing.
David
April 1st, 2009
5:21 pm
I attended the Episcopal Church for a while. The vicar didn’t believe in the trinity, though I think his second in command did. That church is quite old and well established financially in many respects. They have wonderful employment benefits and retrements that are really great from what I understand. I’m just betting this lady never believed anything she espoused in her church. Assuming she espoused anything … and was just paid to be friendly. I’m betting she divulged Isamic (probably afro-centric as well) views once she was able to retire and take full benefits with her.
Layla
April 1st, 2009
5:22 pm
@voice of reason:
“allah” may mean God in arabic, but it does not mean that the Christian God and Muslim god are the same. and why, even when Muslims are born and raised in the US, do they still refer to “Allah” and not “God” when speaking english? because there is a fundamental difference in the meaning of the words. they even say “Allah is God and Muhammed is his prophet”.
jsc3
April 1st, 2009
5:26 pm
I believe that if she went to Saudi Arabia or Iran, and stated she wanted to be both a Muslim and a Christian, she would most likely be prosecuted/persecuted, and possibly put to death.
cks
April 1st, 2009
5:27 pm
We believe that all religions are basically the same,
at least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation.
We believe that after death comes The Nothing
because when you ask the dead what happens
they say Nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied,
then it’s compulsory heaven for all
excepting perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan.
- excerpted from “Creed” by Steve Turner
Atlanta_Tiger_Fan
April 1st, 2009
5:29 pm
Why are christians the most intolerant people on the planet? Doesn’t the bible tell them to be otherwise?
____________________________
Are you kidding me! No other religion can claim more intolerant than Muslims…if you don’t agree with them or their beliefs they kill you!! How’s that for intolerant?
a
April 1st, 2009
5:30 pm
1) Who at the AJC screwed up the only 2 sentences the AJC had to write on this after copying/pasting from the AP? The front page caption says “begain” and the next photo caption has a comma error that would make my Pre-K students wince!
2) I think Bishop Wolf was way too soft and gentle with her! And, under what circumstances was she RECITING the Shehadah — When and where? In an Episcopalian service, I hope not??? I bet the parishioners were quite confused, and staring at each other! They probably thought there was a hidden camera for a tv show somewhere! I don’t like this woman. And for her to say she’s “sad” and “disappointed” is an insult — she’s the one who’s disappointing to her parishioners! What was she thinking? That’s like someone trying to make extra money by being a rabbi on Saturday and a Catholic priest on Sunday.
David
April 1st, 2009
5:31 pm
Islam is a fairly new religion and the quran was written all at one time by one guy. The whole book is obviously made up. It has hateful declarations in it about jews and non-believers that were mean’t to last forever. Remember non-muslim, you are a hated thing and meant for servanthood. The bible has some harsh things in it, but they appear to be mean’t to address specifically tough temporal circumstances. Most people I know who want to argue parity of Ialamand Christianity have essentially domineering personalities but weakpersonnas. The are wimps in wolf’s clothing.
Layla
April 1st, 2009
5:37 pm
@cks:
“They only differ on matters of
creation sin heaven hell God and salvation”
-and yet, all religions are basically the same? someone was high on something when they wrote that. how can religions that believe in completely opposite pathways to salvation be the same? how can beliefs in a God or gods that are fundamentally different remotely be considered the same?
true Christianity and true Islam are not compatible in any shape or form. if you choose to believe in something, have the courage and conviction to believe in every facet, otherwise, what’s the point of having a belief system at all?
a
April 1st, 2009
5:39 pm
Ummm, Voice of Reason — Sorry, but everyone here already knew that “Allah” can translate into “God” — as in, everyone here knew it years before YOU did. But thanks for telling us!!! What everyone here is trying to tell you is that it is used to translate into ‘the God,’ not just ‘God’ – as in, ‘THEIR God’ – the ‘Only God’ – separate from the ‘Christian/Catholic/Jewish God.’ For example, Judaism can use ‘Yahweh,’ and yes, that translates into the Christian/Catholic God in a way that matches your water/aqua simile. However, the ‘Allah’ transfers into a SEPARATE ‘God.’ But thanks so much for pointing that out!!!
Name (Required) — Everyone here is correct — the Muslim religion isn’t very tolerant when they decapitate you for not holding their faith.
cks
April 1st, 2009
5:42 pm
@ Layla. It’s called satire.
marie
April 1st, 2009
5:46 pm
Bob is absolutely right. There is no God but Jehovah. However I do believe in the Trinity, God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. In the words of the old Coca Cola song. “I’d like to teach the world….”to sing His praises. He is the only Hope. I respect the right of other people to worship according to his or her convictions, but He is the only way to Heaven and to the abundant life.
EJ Moosa
April 1st, 2009
5:48 pm
The Big Questions are —Will she appeal the decision? Will she get some lawyer to fight it in court?
If she makes it to court, who knows how a judge will decide? The way things are today-you just never know.
Shannon, M.Div.
April 1st, 2009
5:57 pm
Okay, a couple of thoughts. First of all, in order to be ordained an Episcopal priest in the first place, Ms. Redding had to have divinity training. To suggest that she isn’t familiar with the basic tenets of the faith is disingenuous. She would have to be.
Secondly, I think what most posters here are missing is that there is a wide spectrum of belief within both Islam and Christianity. Not all Christians believe in exclusivity; some of us believe in apokatastasis (salvation for all). Not all Muslims are intolerant; not all Muslim women follow the practice of wearing the hijab/abaya/etc. Not all Muslims follow the small-minded sects with which many of us are more familiar than we’d like to be. Hybrid faiths aren’t completely unknown. I’ve met a few Christian wiccans, which gives me pause.
As an aside, some will claim “They’re not *true* Christians if they don’t believe that Jesus is the *only* way to heaven!” That depends on how you define a “true” Christian. For academic purposes, the umbrella of Christianity is quite wide and covers a plethora of beliefs. Many individual sects of Christianity claim that there are certain orthodox beliefs that are “required” for admission into heaven. That’s fine, but that’s an internal definition. Personally, if I didn’t hold to apokatastasis, I’d be pretty sure a lot of Southern Baptists wouldn’t be allowed in; the practices of that denomination are directly contrary to a lot of Christ’s teachings. Being a good academic, though, I won’t say they aren’t Christians.
With all that said, I understand the defrocking and support it. For the record, I’m UMC (the denomination of Hillary Clinton and, until fairly recently, George W. Bush). One facet of the UMC of which I approve is its willingness to let its membership work out their own salvation. It’s a big tent denomination.
Regarding the Episcopalians, I heard Bishop Robinson at Emory Monday night, and he was quite inspiring!
Joe Rattatat
April 1st, 2009
6:00 pm
You can practice multiple faiths, but not if you’re an ordained representative of one of the faiths. Nothing can stop her from starting her own ministry combining the two faiths.
And in an effort to equate religion with beef…
The average fast food connoisseur can go to both McDonald’s and Burger King. If you are an executive for McDonalds, you can’t go around telling people to go to Burger King.
S Bailey
April 1st, 2009
6:00 pm
If this is not an April Fool’s Joke, then it is most appropriate to defrock this woman. Islam is a religion built on a fabrication of suppositions, half-truths and overtly contradictory isms.
The Jews then the Christians were named as the Chosen of God, but then they failed so Islam was created to take over the “job” of those first two;
The muslim bible, the Quran, incorporates the Torah, the Old & New Testaments, but places them in a secondary position to the teachings of Mohammed;
Mohammed says that Jesus was only a Prophet and yet says that everything He said was true, yet Jesus stated He was/is the Son of God, thus He cannot be simply a Prophet;
Mohammed admitted to taking some “substance” that made him hallucinate and that he saw demons & angels, and one must have ‘faith’ that he chose the correct interpretation as to which one he & we should believe as Gospel;
Mohammed by today’s standards/laws would be considered a child molester because he took a wife 12 years old;
There are many more controversal precepts that are inconsistant….
SB
ReggieATL
April 1st, 2009
6:05 pm
@The Voice. Poor way to end your rant…The Phillipines are an overwhelmingly Catholic country and an active participant in the war on terror.
Ben
April 1st, 2009
6:23 pm
I’m sure since the Episcopal Church recently ordained an openly gay Bishop she figured it wasn’t too big a stretch to allow a Muslim priest