Yet that is what this book is about: a Christian peacemaker spending decades in Afghanistan and, in the process becoming friends with the Taliban.
"[C]hildhood friend Jonathan Larson retraces Dan’s work in Afghanistan over almost four decades. During the successive power struggles among royal regimes, the Red Army, warlords, the Taliban, and the American-led coalition, Dan inspired small Afghan communities to seek a sweeter destiny for themselves. Using a cascade of interviews and eyewitness accounts, this moving narrative of Dan’s life and friendships in Afghanistan offers us all a model for authentic living wherever we are." (from the book site)
My first knowledge of the book came from reading a review at the Raven Foundation, and that was enough to show me my own prejudice towards the Taliban, of whom I only knew what the western media told me. I have now read the sample chapter, and am hoping to get hold of the book to read the entire story.
One quote: 'His Afghan friends claimed, “In the greatest commandments of our scripture–to practice humility; to be generous to widows, the orphans, and the poor; and to be selfless and persevering in the search for justice and peace–Dantri was more Muslim than we Muslims.”'
Book site (includes trailer, sample chapter, study guide and more).
Review with mimetic focus (at Raven Foundation).
Making Friends among the Taliban: A Peacemaker's Journey in Afghanistan
Jonathan Larson
(Herald Press, 2012)
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