Special to The Tampa Tribune, used by permission
Editor’s note: Derek Maul, a Presbyterian free-lance writer who has written for the Presbyterian News Service and Presbyterians Today magazine, wrote this piece shortly after a church camp supported by Peace River and Tampa Bay presbyteries was forced by threats of violence to cancel a leadership event for Muslim youth (see news story on page 6.) — Jerry L. Van Marter, coordinator of Presbyterian News Service.
TAMPA, FLA. — (PNS) My friends run a church camp. You remember church camp? Campfires, marshmallows, best friends, starlit nights. “Kum Ba Yah,” holding hands, cookouts, rain every day.
Church camp. You know, the place that’s all about people coming together, prayer, hugs, surmounting barriers, spiritual breakthroughs, learning to listen to God. It’s about as far away from politics as you can get. Or at least it should be.
Last week my friends had their lives and their children threatened and their patriotism questioned. They had to close the church camp and take their children to a safe place. They had to make other arrangements for a group of — this is ironic — international students, visitors from overseas celebrating Christmas and learning about America.
So why did my friends and their guests have to leave in such a hurry? Because their safety and their lives were threatened by Americans who wanted to carry a political agenda into the realm of marshmallows and “Kum Ba Yah.”
Here are the facts: Church camps tend not to operate at capacity all year long, so my friends embraced an opportunity to bring in much-needed revenue while exposing people of varied backgrounds to a Christian retreat center, Camp Cedarkirk in Lithia (Florida), in a beautiful natural setting.
International House college students from all over America traveled to Tampa to enjoy the beautiful outdoors and spend Christmas and New Year’s with host families, who also took them to church.
Separately, the Muslim American Society of Tampa made reservations for a New Year’s weekend peacemaking retreat. The society provided copies of its curriculum ahead of time and invited camp staff to be present.
On Dec. 29, Stuart Varney, guest host on the Fox News show “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” interviewed a blogger, Joe Kaufman, chairman of “Americans Against Hate.” Kaufman repeated allegations he had made on his Web site that the Presbyterian camp in Lithia was hosting a “jihad terrorist retreat.”
My friends immediately called local and federal authorities and were assured there was nothing questionable about providing the meeting site for the Muslim American Society of Tampa and its speakers.
The damage, however, had been done.
There are voices in America intent on spreading hatred and creating division. When these voices are given credibility via news outlets such as Fox, the repercussions can be dark and far-reaching.
The big crime at church camp turned out to be that of extending Christian hospitality to Muslims, singing around the campfire in harmony with people of other faiths, and promoting peace and understanding in the name of Jesus Christ.
Remember Jesus? Jesus is the one who said things like, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” and “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
When my friends are persecuted — here in America — for practicing the tenets of their faith, then I have to confess it becomes easy to see where my heart may be troubled.
Not to mention a little afraid.
