His Mission: Christian-Muslim Reconciliation
Former Rep. Mark Siljander Tells of His Final Rejection of Religious Intolerance
An article featuring Mark and his journey towards reconciliation as his life focus recently appeared in Roll Call, a publication that focuses on covering “the people, politics, process and policy on Capitol Hill”:
A 1984 prayer breakfast best illustrates Siljander’s journey from a strict evangelical to a more open-minded ally of Islam. At the breakfast, the Congressman was “outraged” that the speaker was Muslim, and he walked out.
“From my office I dashed off a stinging letter of protest to the leadership of the National Prayer Breakfast,” Siljander recalls in his book. “What did they think they were doing, I wrote, allowing a Muslim leader to read the Quran at an event supposedly dedicated to peace and brotherhood?”
The recipient of the letter later challenged Siljander’s perspective, asking him where in the Bible it demands that a person convert to Christianity instead of merely living in relationship with God. After he lost re- election in 1986, that conversation inspired him to learn Aramaic.
“Aramaic is not only considered the mother tongue of Hebrew, but it is also a very close cousin to Arabic,” Siljander writes in his book. “All three are Semitic languages, and in this simple but long-ignored fact lies tremendous hope for the future of our civilization.”
The entire article is available for a fee (or free to staff on Capitol Hill) at the Roll Call website, here.