Book Review: "A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman’s Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide” By Mark D. Siljander

By Amy Branham, Gold Star Mother, Houston, TX
http://amybranham.blogspot.com

This book took me on an emotional journey that I really had to struggle with. After reading the first chapter or two of this book, I did not want to go any further. It wasn’t because I objected to what the author was learning and sharing in his story. It was because of where he came from that made me feel very vehemently opposed to hearing what he had to say. Here was an evangelical Christian Republican Congressman who had been known in Washington D.C. as one of the biggest Jesus freaks ever to walk the halls of Congress! One who, under normal circumstances and, much more so today, wouldn’t give me, one of those left-wing liberals, the time of day!

Of course, I felt I had to overcome this obstacle and give him a chance because, as the former Congressman told me in a telephone conversation a couple of days earlier, he was not that person any more. He shared some of his message with me before I even opened the book, and I found it compelling.

And so, I read on.

By this time, Mark Siljander and I had also exchanged several emails and I was beginning to get to know him a little bit. It was because of the request of a friend that I bought his book and began a correspondence with him. I didn’t want to help him, especially after I learned of the charges against him when I Googled his name. He has been charged with money laundering and various other things in connection with a Muslim charity organization that is on the terrorism sponsor list. I most definitely did not want to get involved with that!

I began this piece a couple of days ago with the objective of writing a book review for Mark and send it out to my contacts and see if we could get some positive publicity for him, not just for his book but also to help him in his case and charges against him. By the time I got to the end of his book, I could clearly see and understand why he is in the situation he finds himself in legally.

Mr. Siljander began his journey of discovery after being challenged to name one verse in the bible that said Christians must “convert” nonbelievers. Eventually, he began a linguistic study of the Bible. His challenger, later, was looking for Jesus in the Qur-an, not believing he would find His story there. Not only did he find Jesus in the Qur-an, but he found many other similarities between the Muslim and the Christian faiths.

He has, since then, been putting the commonalities he has found into practice as he travels the world speaking with political and spiritual leaders trying to bridge the gulfs between all of us and to create peace and understanding. His travels have taken him to Libya, Pakistan, Indian, and many other places.

It would be easy to politicize the charges against the former Congressman and to go off into a rant of some kind about the previous administration and all of its sins at this point, but I’ll save that for another day.

Today, I want you to consider purchasing and reading this book because I believe it will make a difference in the way you look at the world. I know it did for me – and I am most definitely not Christian or Muslim. I do not hold the same political or religious views as Mr. Siljander but I will say this: I have a great respect for the man and the work he has been doing since his journey began many years ago. I believe he is a man who loves his country and I do not believe he is guilty of the charges brought against him.

For more information, go to: http://www.adeadlymisunderstanding.com/index.php