Overview

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the largest Protestant religious group in the United States--the Southern Baptist denomination--has been criticized for using and fostering anti-Islamic rhetoric. The use of anti-Islamic speech, specifically by Southern Baptist leaders, has become an alarming trend within the denomination. The effects of Southern Baptists' antipathy towards Muslims are indeed dire. Charles W. Powell has observed that the Southern Baptist denomination is underprepared and at times reluctant to engage with Muslims in the United States. His formal interviews with Southern Baptist pastors reveal that most pastors as well as their congregants have had no personal encounter with Muslims. As a result, this lack of encounter has created a deficiency of narrative empathy. Southern Baptists and Muslims empirically investigates the dynamics of these patterns. Powell proposes that this lack of narrative empathy is the primary reason why leaders within the Southern Baptist denomination have negative perceptions of Islam and Muslims. Moreover, it is primarily the lack of narrative empathy that allows for anti-Islamic rhetoric to flourish. The purpose of this book is to shape an improved, if not new, perception of Islam and Muslims--a perception that can foster neighborliness via narrative empathy.

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Charles W. Powell is associate director in the Office of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. Powell is a former Southern Baptist pastor, and his research and teaching agenda has focused on interreligious dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He travels extensively throughout the Levant, Gulf states, and Europe, engaging in conversations with Muslim scholars, practitioners of Islam, and interfaith institutes to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Islamic milieu.

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