Five years as a Christian missionary in Asian Kazakhstan was a game changer for Steve Slocum altering forever his view of Islam.
\nNow the Pacific Beach resident is sharing his epiphany with San Diegans, fostering a positive dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims.
\nKazakhstan borders Russia and China and is the world\u2019s largest landlocked country. It is Central Asia\u2019s dominant nation economically, generating 60 percent of the region\u2019s GDP, mostly through oil and gas.
\nSlocum\u2019s outreach comes at a watershed time following an anti-Muslim attack on a New Zealand mosque that felled 50 innocent people, and escalating anti-Muslim hate crimes worldwide.
\nSlocum has created a nonprofit, non-religious and non-partisan organization, Salaam, meaning “peace.” Salaam is hosting a weekly series of rotating workshops featuring powerful personal stories from local Muslims and interfaith activists, along with shared meals and discussions.
\nSlocum\u2019s view of Islam changed when he lived in Kazakhstan.
\n“I was a hardcore, hyperkinetic evangelical Christian back in the early \u201890s when I took my wife and three kids to be missionaries in Kazakhstan,” Slocum said. “It turned out to be a life-changing experience. A lot of my attitudes changed.”
\nAdded Slocum, “Even though we were Christians, they (Muslims) respected us and helped us in every way. Their warmth, friendliness and hospitality just left a warmth in my belly for their culture and toward Muslim people.”
\nNow back in the States, Slocum wanted to return the favor.
\nNoting there is “a lot of misinformation” out there, while pointing out 75 percent of Americans “don\u2019t know a Muslim,” Slocum has set out to dispel rumors, myths and post-911 xenophobia, which is what Salaam is all about.
\n“I needed to speak about my own experiences, what I found,” he said. “I decided to write a soon-to-be published book about it, \u2018Why do they Hate Us?\u2019 “In it, I tell stories of the voice of the mainstream Muslim, about their faith, what they believe in.”
\nSalaam\u2019s process involves:
\n\u2022 Educating communities\u00a0with free workshops that debunk misconceptions about Islam.
\n\u2022 Building cross-cultural friendships\u00a0by inviting Muslims and non-Muslims to enjoy meals together.
\n\u2022 Organizing mosque visits\u00a0to help locals connect with Islamic culture in their own communities.
\n\u2022 Leading international trips\u00a0to help residents expand their world view of Muslims.
\nSalaam employee a six-step process to change people\u2019s minds about Muslims.
\n“The first step is awareness,” Slocum said. “Step two is a mosque visit. Step three are friendship dinners. It goes on from there, with the final step being traveling together to a Muslim country to get a first-hand experience on their turf.”\u00a0
\nFor more information visit\u00a0salaamusa.org. “Why Do They Hate Us” is scheduled for publication in July.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Five years as a Christian missionary in Asian Kazakhstan was a game changer for Steve Slocum altering forever his view of Islam. Now the Pacific Beach resident is sharing his epiphany with San Diegans, fostering a positive dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims. Kazakhstan borders Russia and China and is the world\u2019s largest landlocked country. It […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":271355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Christian missionary promotes positive dialogue with Muslims in Pacific Beach","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[12360,11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-271356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-duplicate","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}