Slimi among the dhimmis: The article in the Canadian Jewish News about the interfaith dinner featuring the colourful comments of Imam Hamid Slimi is somewhat less “colorful” than the piece that appeared in the Jewish Tribune. The CJC report, for instance, omits any reference to the bizarre pissing Bedoin anecdote, as well as the imam’s assertion that synagogues and churches in dar al-Islam have never, ever, not even once in history, been torched by Muslims.

From the CJN piece:

TORONTO — Imam Hamid Slimi, RIGHT, made history on May 14 as the first imam to speak at a Neighbourhood Interfaith Group dinner.

The 22nd annual dinner, which was hosted by Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, brought together members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities for a night of food, drinks and conversation.

“It’s good that [we] gathered together to break bread and listen to one another in the spirit of grace,” said Rev. Peter Holmes of the Yorkminster Church. “Gatherings like this are a sign of hope and a beacon of light to this world.”

Imam Slimi, who has been an imam for 11 years, is the founder of the Faith of Life Network; the imam of the International Muslims Organization of Toronto; and the chairman of the Canadian Council of Imams.

“We did extensive research,” said Bryan Beauchamp, one of the organizers of the event and the chairman of the Interfaith Group. “We wanted a moderate, progressive, well-educated and well- spoken person. [Imam Slimi] is the ideal guy.”    

In his speech titled “The Golden Rule,” Imam Slimi spoke about Islam and its beliefs.

“Islam is very simple. There’s one God in heaven and God is merciful,” he said. “There is this unfavourable thinking of Islam and Muslims. I can’t deny that there are extreme thoughts – it happens in every religion.”

During his speech, Imam Slimi, who was born in Morocco, addressed the misconception that all Muslims are taught to hate the Jewish community.

“Everyone is loved by God,” he said. “I grew up in a district where we had Jews and Christians. We were never taught to hate [them.] The prophet said that [Muslims] can marry Jews and Christians, who are the people of the Book.”

The imam was invited to speak at the dinner because of a comment made by Rabbi Erwin Schild four years ago. While addressing the gathering at the 18th annual interfaith group dinner, the rabbi said that the group’s next challenge was to engage their Muslim neighbours.

During this year’s dinner, Rabbi Schild spoke about the first murder documented in the Torah.

“It was one brother killing another,” he said. “The murderer [thought], ‘I can’t be responsible for my brother.’ In the course of time, we’ve learned that we are our brother’s keeper – what we haven’t learned yet is who is my brother. We are responsible for all religions.”  

This sense of responsibility led Beauchamp to become involved in the interfaith group, which was founded in 1986.

‘This is my calling,” he said, motioning around the room. “Our mission is to achieve respect and appreciation for the religious beliefs of others.”

The group includes 14 churches and synagogues, and one private school in midtown Toronto. There are no mosques in the community that the group serves, but Beauchamp plans to continue inviting Muslim speakers.  

“We’ll have a three-year cycle,” he said. “Next year, we’ll have a Roman Catholic archbishop, and in 2010 we’ll start the cycle again.”

Beauchamp, who is an Anglican, tries to seat people of different religions at the same table to encourage a dialogue.

“We spread Muslim guests among the room. We try to put four Christians and four Jews at each table,” he said.

Beauchamp says the key to uniting different religions is to concentrate on similarities rather than differences.

“Rather than sitting together and discussing whether Jesus will return to Earth we focus on ‘love thy neighbour as yourself.’”…

That “Golden Rule” again. Too bad its presence is notably absent in one of the Abrahamic faiths.

Update: When Brian Beauchamp describes the imam as being "moderate" and "progressive," he apparently means that, in matters pertaining to the U.S. and Israel, he and the imam are in synch. A cursory glance at the imam's Faith of Life website reveals some of the "progressive" thinking--links to a Guardian video about suffering in Gaza, a clip about how povery in the U.S. will never be alleviated while the "military-industrial complex" continues to be industriously military (i.e. keeps fighting in places like Iraq and Afghanistan), and how the media are spinning the Sadr City "success".

The imam seems to be "moderate" and "progressive" in the hard-leftist/moonbat sense of those words.

Update: Further exploration of the Faith of Life site turns up David Liepert, the network's founding Director, exposulating on a timely subject:

Quite a few authors and media darlings have been making their fortunes off the idea that Canadian Muslims secretly support Osama bin Laden. They support their clash of civilizations theory with sensational quotes from the fanatical fringe, while ignoring and even denouncing the notion of Islamophobia. However, according to the United Nations, 'Islamophobia is now more widely accepted as normal in the West, not only among the common people, but also, and more openly, among certain elites, who at times seemed to adopt it as an ideological or even aesthetic position.'

It would be nice if that weren't true of Canada . In Ontario last year, the right to faith-based arbitration in family disputes was taken away from everyone (even though it had been in place for decades) simply to ensure Muslims didn't get it. The idea of public support for private religious schools is suffering the same fate. A hate-speech complaint against a prominent magazine has even prompted a federal private members' motion to remove laws against hate-speech from the books! Apparently Muslims can't be trusted with that right either.

Canada's commentators seem unanimous: an individuals' right to stereotype and misrepresent a distinct minority is protected in Canada . But where are the supposed limits that prevent us exercising our rights to the detriment of others? When a prejudiced perspective becomes so endemic that it begins to promote systemic prejudice has it not gone too far?

There is a wide gulf between those commentators' dystopic maunderings and what is actually being taught in Canada 's Muslim Houses of Worship. There we learn that Islam is a peaceful religion that promotes equality and rights for all. It's a shame that's not the way it's practiced everywhere, but it's a shame we all share. Our situation is not unique: all ideological communities struggle against members using their beliefs to justify abusing others. But it is only on the pages of a few right-wing media outlets that we hear the constant outcry that the Muslim community is singularly challenged. Often, their conclusions are based on faulty interpretations of obscure scholars and a handful of fanatics few Muslims know about. Funnily enough, it seems that right-wing media outlets and Osama Bin Laden are on the same page...

Yup. Sounds very "progressive" to me. Here's more on Liepert the "revert".