By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
His church, 31994 Middle Crossing Road at Garrett Road, on Wednesday, June 7, at 7 p.m. hosts a program with Gabriel Reynolds, assistant professor of Islamic studies in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame.
Reynolds “shares the same idea that I have - if you don't know something and understand it, then you have a fear of it. Maybe we can help alleviate some of the anxieties people have.”
Thompson, who visited Israel in 2000, said he read the Koran before stopping by the Daily News Thursday.
Thompson described Reynolds as “open to dialogue about the tension that we feel. How is it that the holy scripture (of Islam) can be used in such a vile way” by terrorists? “When we see the Muslim population growing in the United States, it's easy for us to assume that we have something to dread, something to fear. Those are our neighbors (in Dearborn) and there might be Muslims spreading in communities we're not even aware of because they have to go outside Dowagiac, for sure, to be able to worship.”
Thompson said he's looking forward to June 7 “with an open mind, but too, with the understanding that I need to know. It's something I think the Christian church needs to spend some more time on and be able to help the general populace understand the Muslim faith, in an appropriate manner of course. Not to convert anyone, but to be able to take some of the anger out of communication between Muslim and Christian communities. I'm looking forward to this program a lot. It's going to be eye-opening for me. Hopefully, we can be a community that will welcome Muslim families. One way we can do that is to understand them even before they get here.”
Thompson hopes this program proves a springboard to other “dialogue,” whether they're sponsored by Silver Creek United Methodist or some other entity.
Thompson is coming up on his second anniversary at Silver Creek in June.
He came to Dowagiac from Bellevue, near Battle Creek. He grew up north of Midland and attended rural Sanford Meridian High School in the bay area.