Forget Huntington’s politically incoherent “Clash of Civilizations” and move over Eurabia and Islamofascism, there is yet another neologism in the Islamophobisphere (Okay, this is one of my own…). This is “Chrislam,” and for Christ’s sake (both the sacred and the profane uses of this phrase), no less. Among other end-timers, the expectant folks over at Rapture Ready have uncovered a diabolical (quite literally for these folks) plot to merge Christianity and Islam. It could be suspected of being Satanic for the simple fact that the plot takes place at Ivy League (and thus white-sepulchered) Yale University. Here is the post from one Joseph Chambers:

RICK WARREN, CHRISLAM AND THE YALE UNIVERSITY COVENANT

I NOW HAVE THE OFFICIAL YALE UNIVERSITY COVENANT SIGNED BY RICK WARREN. This is proof positive that he is a signed partner in promoting the Covenant between Islam and our Jehovah God as one God now named “Chrislam”. I’m simply printing for you the entire covenant and also coping his and other name from this document. Below is the exact list directly from the web page itself. Please note the underlined names mentioned here, and on the radio program: Robert Schuller, Rick Warren, Brian D. McLaren an David Yonggi Cho. Check the list for other names you might be familiar with. There are hubdreds of ministers thet may inlude your Pastor or leaders in your denominations. Check the large list of names on this offocial list from Yale. http://www.yale.edu/faith/acw/acw.htm

In the spirit of the Prophet Daniel, Mr. Chambers is tackling the end times by the horns (big and little for those who read Daniel), although I suspect Daniel’s Aramaic is more grammatical than Chamber’s English. Or is it that spell checks are also an invention of the Devil, not that Microsoft isn’t a prime candidate for the Lucifer of the moment? Do check those “hubdreds” of pastors that may have signed on to this dangerous document. The document in question is by a group of concerned Christians who prefer dialogue to drones. They are responding to an Islamic initiative called “A Common Word”. The fact that this interfaith dialogue has been praised by both Archbishop Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict no doubt adds to its conspiratorial dimension for Chambers.

But what interests me is the uncommon word “Chrislam.” The first mention I can find is in Arthur C. Clarke’s scifi novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, published in 1968. How ironic is it that for those Christians waiting for Jesus to swoop down from the heavens and gather the elect. There is also a Yoruba syncretistic merging of Islam and Christianity in the 1970s; this was even featured in a PBS documentary. There is a webpage by this title, which has been around for over a decade, but this is a site that promotes harmony between Christianity and Islam as a kind of “Chrislamology.” There is yet another site complaining about Christian missionaries using translations of the Bible that are Muslim-friendly by removing references to the trinity.

Christianity or Islam? I think it better to spill ink in dialogue rather than to spill blood or imagine the devastation of Armageddon. Maybe we should go back to an old Testament trial-by-fire ritual of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. But then, what if God is so tired of the whole mess, he ignores everyone’s prayer?