Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, calls on religious people of all faiths to face head-on the “negative externalities of religion” — those toxic side effects of religion that we don’t like to deal with. In an age of nuclear proliferation, he explains, religious extremists of all faiths — not to mention the fundamentalist secularism of people like Sam Harris, who calls for a pre-emptive strike on Muslims — are capable of destroying massive numbers of people. The way out of this mess, Yusuf says, is for Jews to emulate the Judaism of Rabbi Hillel, Muslims to practice the Islam of Imam Al Hasadi and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and Christians to draw inspiration from Francis Assisi. Hamza Yusuf gave this speech after accepting the Tikkun Award at Tikkun’s Twenty-Fifth Anniversary celebration.
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Have we forgotten to suggest the main person whom Christians should draw inspiration from? Our name comes from Jesus Christ, whom we believe to be God’s son and the revelation of His will on earth. He taught us non-violence and he described a new kingdom, whose members were a new creation. In this kingdom of heaven on earth, God’s children loved each other and cared for each other. These are all things to be very happy about and to share with everyone as followers of Jesus Christ.