Mercer University Seeking Muslim Converts

Mercer University, where I completed my undergraduate degree, has announced it will be bringing in a Muslim speaker from Egypt to "raise awareness" for Muslims, and to teach the students to have "respect and understanding" of Muslims.

Mercer was originally founded as a "Baptist" University, and for many years was affiliated with and supported by the Georgia Baptist Convention. Recently, the convention pulled support and disaffiliated when the University sponsored a GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered) "Coming Out Day", and the state-wide publicity upset the evangelical conservative community, many of whom had sent or were planning to send their children to attend the school. This move was a long-time coming event, and the University was well-prepared to face the removal of funds, having set up a tight connection with the ironically named "Cooperative" baptist fellowship, a branch of moderates/liberals that "seceded" from the conservative evangelical Southern Bapitst Convention.

On the basic level, the University's Islamic effort could be very positive - to teach the students to share a respect and compassion for a people of a certain faith, especially one which is not the "majority" faith of the University's demographic. However, what the University is doing is much different than simply an "awareness" project.

The school also intends to " infuse its curriculum with a greater emphasis on, and understanding of, the Muslim world." See the article

Ultimately, the school is allowing a well-known Muslim spokesperson to come "share their faith" with the school, and further, to demand that students learn about this faith in an academic setting. It can't hurt to learn about another faith, but when combined with the effects of removing the foundation of Christian faith from Christians by absolutely refuting the Bible's authority in the "Christianity" classes (I know from experience), what is developing is a grand effort to form a notable number of converts from Christianity to Islam.