anti-Muslim neighbour

[whatamidoinghereanyway]

I live in a rural community next door to a lovely family with strong Christian beliefs, they homeschool and generally spend time interacting with church friends. Sometimes we will chat over the fence and we have a nice relationship. Occasionally the children play together but she doesn't encourage contact with people who aren't Christian.

I've always respected that's the lifestyle and I have mine. I work in a nearby city for a charity that supports children with difficulties.

And so...whilst chatting about the referendum she told me that they believe religions should not mix together, countries should have borders, that we must leave the EU to prevent us becoming a Muslim country. This is a view held by many I know but she went on to say that most Muslims are radical and intent on taking over the world and that The reason the world is in turmoil is that cultures should not exist together. We then had a debate where she got very passionate and I told her that I could not tolerate racism, whilst sh denied being racist, citing the bible as her evidence.

I'm furious! To the extent that I can't bear to go home tonight to be even near her.

I'm still furious to the extent that I can't even bear to go home tonight in case I see her. I don't care how she voted I am just disappointed at this particular opinion.

I don't know if this is the ethos of the Christian religion, that Christians shouldn't mix with other religions or races. I am not religious so I can't get my head around it

[aginghippy]

That's not Christianity, it's bigotry.

IIWY I would give her a wide berth from now on.

[laurzj82]

Agree with above. Definitely not Christian. Avoid at all costs.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

That is not Christianity.
That's being a shit-stain on society.

[PausingFlatly]

I don't think Jesus would be impressed. He who held up the good Samaritan over the priest as an example of how to be a good person.

The commandment to love thy neighbour is not a little bolt-on extra to Christianity.

"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. "
— Mark 12:28-31

[RiverTam]

I take it she's one of those Christians who doesn't understand that Jesus was a Jew. No wonder she homeschooles. Poor kids. They'll be fucked or they'll fuck off.

[PausingFlatly]

Also Leviticus 19:34, "The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."

[whatamidoinghereanyway]

It is very difficult as I am at home a lot too and although my children are at school, I can't help but have to interact with them.

I suppose the sensible answer would be to love and respect her but I am still livid and have never heard such bigotry in my life- and to the extent that they truly believe it and use evidence to explain their strong feelings!

I am concerned children are being fed this one-sided ideology.

They live in La la land.

[RiverTam]

Do you know what church they attend? Might be worth mentioning it to church leaders?

[hotdiggedy]

And she calls Muslims radical??? Haha, she needs to take a look at herself. Not liking contact with people who aren't Christian? She is the radical one. I say we try to boot her out of the country for refusing to join in with the wider society.

[peachpudding]

I dont agree with her, but there is a valid debate to be had about whether or not multiculturalism has its boundaries. Does it work for all? Should it be forced on people against their will?

[PuttingouthefirewithGasoline]

Of course its not christian behaviour!

She is using religion as a tribe, as a tribe that she is part of. My DM used to do this with Catholics, she would say " She is a catholic, she is one of us" and give a smile. I think many religions do this though - just with some Ie Islam and Judaism its easier to see sometimes who is who.

[SapphireSeptember]

I hate this kind of thinking. I know some people I go to church with have similar mindsets and it annoys me. (Re referendum, we have one Sunday every month where people bear their testimonies, and before the vote one bloke got up and started spouting rubbish about 'freedom' and if we follow what our leaders tell us we'd 'do the right thing'. I was furious, and even though he never told people what to vote it was more than implied what his opinion was.)

Anyway, I'm very much of the opinion that if the human race stopped arguing about who's religion is the right one and who's country is better and all the other stuff, and actually worked together, we'd fix the world's problems. I'm aware that's incredibly idealistic, but a girl can only dream.

[OutwiththeOutCrowd]

I think it’s interesting to consider the attitude of whatamidoing’s neighbour in the context of the voting trends of different religious groups as revealed by Lord Ashcroft’s EU ref exit poll data.

lordashcroftpolls.com/2016/06/how-the-united-kingdom-voted-and-why/

Most people are aware of course that 52% of voters voted to leave. But the proportion of Christians who voted to leave was higher at 58%.

This would suggest that the anti-immigration stance of the OP’s neighbour might well be slightly more commonplace amongst Christians than in the population at large.

There certainly seems to be a dichotomy between the generally left-leaning pro-immigration clergy and the generally right-leaning anti-immigration laity in the CofE.

On the other hand other polls show that Catholics tend to be more pro-immigration and I suspect the 58% noted above would be even higher if it did not include the Catholic vote.

The EU ref should not have been about Muslim migrants/refugees but some of the propaganda disseminated by the leave campaign muddied the waters to the extent that some voters thought it a relevant issue. It is ironic that the voting choices of right wing Christians are bringing uncertainty into the lives of many from other EU countries who share their faith.

[Heathen4Hire]

The neighbour is threatened by other religions and philosophies. She is bigoted especially against Muslims which as other posters have said is actually against her own religion!

It's the two-faced-ness that gets me about these people.

If she mixed more, with a wider group of people, not just people from her church, she might broaden her horizons and learn something. Keeping herself limited to a narrow "slice of life" has evidently damaged her view of the world.

[OutwiththeOutCrowd]

With reference to whatamidoing’s comment

I don't know if this is the ethos of the Christian religion, that Christians shouldn't mix with other religions or races.

I personally don’t find the Bible clear on the issue of people with different beliefs. While it’s true that the Good Samaritan story supports a positive attitude towards such people, Paul’s writings can be quite harsh in this area.

Paul in prejudiced mode:

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy

and

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

Paul in slightly friendlier mode:

Do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

So I think if you are unhappy about consorting with non-believers, you can find material in the Bible to support your stance.

On the other hand, if you are happy to mingle with non-believers, you too can find material in the Bible to support your stance.

[skerrywind]

Not a true Scotsman

She is a Christian. Many christians ( and Muslims ) do believe they have the one true god,
Evangelism is part of being a christian.

I see nothing in this neighbour that can't be explained by her faith. Religion gives people a reason to be bigoted.

Having said that I despise christianity, and Islam .

[TeaForever]

Oh muslimsarescum I'm so sad to see you are so filled with hate towards an entire faith group

I'm a Christian, and don't even remotely feel the way you do about Muslims. You get extremists of all faiths & none. People are people.

Do you yourself identify as Christian? If so, I urge you to pray about these feelings you have, and ask God to help you to love your neighbour as yourself.

Of course there are extremists within the Muslim faith, who treat women dreadfully. But there are extreme fundamentalist Christians too. In both and all cases, hate-filled extremists are a minority in my experience.

I'm certainly not going to flame you, as I feel very sorry for you. To have that much hate for an entire faith group must be pretty exhausting?

Love always trumps hate, and love will win out in the end...

[TeaForever]

PS, if the OP is still around (I noticed it's an old thread, so didn't comment to the OP initially) your neighbours don't represent most Christians. Please don't be put off. Some of us really are about the business of loving I'm sad to hear of Christians being so prejudiced, and I struggle to get how they reached the conclusions they did about non-Christians. Take care

[FlissMumsnet]

Just poking our nose in to let everyone know this is a zombie thread.

As you were.....