Peter Riddell
The appearance of this 4th issue of the CSIOF Bulletin coincides with the 10th anniversary of the tragic 9/11 attacks in the USA. In our lead feature article, Bernie Power reflects on those attacks and subsequent events, posing a series of important questions about the present situation of the Islam-West relationship. Christian engagement with Muslims takes many forms: evangelism, dialogue and discussions of public policy. Also presented is a series of articles that address each of these in turn, placing particular emphasis on the British and Australian contexts. Australians can learn a lot by considering today’s Britain, where the Muslim community is twice as large in terms of percentages, and where the successes and challenges in the relationship between Muslims and broader society arguably provide a model for the future in Australia. Also considered in these articles are deep tensions that exist among British Christians regarding methods of engagement with Muslims; again Australian Christians can learn much in examining these tensions and drawing appropriate lessons.The CSIOF exists to consider a broad range of non-Christian faiths. This CSIOF Bulletin presents the final two feature articles which consider Jewish and Hindu contexts alongside discussion of Islam. Martin Pakula provides an overview of the complex and intractable Israel-Palestine conflict, while Ian Schoonwater presents a fascinating discussion of Hindu and Muslim approaches to the end of life. The feature articles are supplemented by two very interesting Communiqués, several reports on recent conferences and a selection of book reviews.As always, this issue of the CSIOF Bulletin does not present monolithic viewpoints, but rather seeks to address areas of community and scholarly debate. We hope that you find this issue insightful, relevant and informative.
