VERSION|0.5.1|SUBJECT|Shaikh Abdal Hakim Murad, Muslim Chaplain Cambridge University (the Shaikh formerly known as Tim Winter)   |CONTENT|[b]Rating[/b] 5 out of 5 (Extraordinarily platitudinous)

[url=http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap130822.html][img=images/2013/08/pic130822.jpg popup=false float=right][/url]The latest news from Syria, of [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23791181]chemical attacks[/url] on civilians, seems to mark a new low in the current civil war.

What's really, really important here is not the death or suffering involved, but that no one blames it on religion. The differences between Shiite and Sunni theology are really not that great. Muslim leaders on both sides are united in condemning any attack on the slightly wrong version of the religion.

When I lived in Egypt I had similar problems explaining the situation in Northern Ireland. Many Egyptians had the mistaken belief that religion had something to do with it. "No, no, no," I would tell them. "When Rev Ian Paisley called the Pope the anti-Christ, that was a political message. It's pure coincidence that everyone on one side is Catholic and everyone on the other side is Protestant."

This is what happens when countless millions of people don't understand their religion properly. Advanced theologians, such as myself, know that these slight differences are really not sufficient to kill each other over. Our theological differences really ought to be much bigger than this before tribalism and fear of the other kicks in.

All these countless believers, who pay so little attention to their better educated religious leaders, should attend a few more inter-faith buffets. As the Koran says, "Inter-faith dialogue and religious toleration are to be highly commended."

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01fkmrt]Listen/Read[/url]|IP-ADDRESS|94.168.119.214|DATE|1377158636|CREATEDBY|admin
