Kite Runner

Tonight we watched the film adaptation of The Kite Runner by Khald Hosseini. Having read the book, we were expecting a heart-rending story, and so it was that the movie accurately portrayed the tragedy of young lives torn apart, and, of a country torn apart by religious extremism in a most evil way.

As a Christian, I see much in Islam that I do not believe, being a simple but profound consequence of the God in whom I place my faith. However, I also see things that I believe are absolutely wrong, irrespective of choice of faith: the subjugation of women; stoning of adulterers; dictating of fashion.

And yet I see in the Old Testament so much of these same kinds of issues (including stoning as a punishment), and ponder - often aloud - how should I interpret and understand the God of the Old Testament as the same God of the New Testament. I don't have the answers, although I've read many theologians on this topic.

What I do know is that these situations are more often than not complex, contextualised, and the consequences of years, maybe centuries, of inculcation. The answer is unlikely to be shock and awe, but love in its fullest sense.