Many Moroccans are concerned about a three-night festival intended to use the universal language of music to bridge cultures and make friends, will be making its way to Morocco this spring for the second year in a row.
While hardly in the same league as the prestigeous Fez Sacred Music Festival, Friendship Fest 2006, is a free event to be held May 5-7 in Marrekech, which will bring a host of little-known Christian artists together with local musicians in an effort to show that people of different cultures and faith traditions can be friends and live in harmony with one another,according to the event's organisers, Creation Fest co-founders Harry Thomas and Tim Landis.
Marrekech Regional President Abdelali Doumou called last year's festival, which drew a crowd of around 85,000 people, an historic opportunity for Americans and Moroccans to celebrate together, through music, in friendship and peace.
At the festival's close, Doumou extended an official invitation for Thomas to return to Morocco.
According to Christianity Today, Thomas, whose initial efforts to run Friendship Fest were opposed by some Moroccans who objected against the religious content of the music, was able to quell tensions by assuring officials that none of the musicians would be proselytizing during the event something that didn't seem to bother the artists at 2005's festival. However many local muslims viewed the event with some concern as there have been several attempts to secretly convert Moslems in the Marrakech area in recent years. See our earlier story here: Evangelicals in Morocco.
"We're not allowed to evangelize but we were allowed to make connections, make friends, and share Christ that way," Friendship 2005 performer Joy Williams told Christianity Today.
While anything that decreases the rift between faiths is important, one wonders how the friendly Americans would welcome a tour from a group of Islamic performers using music to share the teachings of Islam. And will the visiting performers and organisers be seeking out information on Islam while in Morocco?
Musical acts scheduled to perform at this year's festival include a southern gospel group The Crabb Family, pop singer Jaci Velasquez, rapper KJ-52, American Idol finalist George Huff, Canadian rock quartet Downhere, and a group called Audio Adrenaline.
Tags: Morocco, Fes, Maghreb, news
2 comments:
Great Blog folks - very classy. I wish there were more conversation here... I find your nation so fascinating!
I'm sure if you keep it up, the readers will come.
Since you are publishing in English, I assume some of you have experience in the West?
I wanted to comment on this:
"... one wonders how the friendly Americans would welcome a tour from a group of Islamic performers using music to share the teachings of Islam. And will the visiting performers and organisers be seeking out information on Islam while in Morocco?"
I don't know if the author of that article meant that ironically or not. The truth is, that this isn't really hypothetical: Americans welcome such cultural and religious groups all the time. We welcome them with open arms... we have no problems with them prosetylizing, all are welcome to do so in America. And if they want to learn about Christianity or Christians? They're welcome to do that too... why not?
That closing paragragh seemed strangely paranoid, and completely off the mark. The author doesn't know America.
Salam!
Thank you for your thoughtful comments. Yes, you are right, I do not know America, but several Islamic friends assure me that where they live in the US an Islamic presence is not welcome. It probably depends on where you live. One observation I have from meeting Americans is that those who listen to National Public Radio are far more open-minded! Anyway, your comments were welcome.
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