Divine dialogue

The Gazette's Letters to the Editor section has been awash recently in Christian-Islamic banter. The entries in this morning's paper are from Richard Curran Trussell and Ann Pattinari, both of whom say Islam is being unfairly painted as extremist.

"I implore ... Christian groups to invite Yousufi or Chaudry (two Colorado Springs Islamic leaders) to their congregations to discuss Islam and Christianity," Trussell writes. "I know they are willing."

As fate would have it, such a discussion is being planned.

Vanguard Church, a non-denominational congregation of about 1,150 folks, will hold "A Community Discussion on Religious Tensions: Muslims, Jews and Christians" at 7 p.m. May 15 at their place, 3950 N. Academy Blvd. This isn't a debate, the Rev. Kelly Williams of Vanguard stresses, but an opportunity for faith leaders to chat a bit and teach the crowd something about their own religious perspectives.

"Religion seems to have become so political in this city that there's no place for relations," Williams told me.

I'll write more about this event in an upcoming story, which will probably run about a week before the event. We'll keep you posted.