The London Blasts: Media Review

DAY 74: 19 September 2005

Contents

Islamo-Christian Civilization

Snippets: Covert Operations - Russia

ISLAMO-CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION

RICHARD HARRIES

In yesterday's Observer, the Bishop of Oxford, Richard Harries, wrote a piece entitled, 'How the Church can tackle terrorism'. The subtitle was: 'Christians are well placed to foster democracy in the current crisis'. Excerpts from his article, which is based on a new report by church leaders:

'Religion has too often been used to justify illegitimate violence; there is a seed of violence within all religions, including Christianity.'

'... Our report deals not only with the threat of terrorism but with American power, perceived by many Muslims and others to be the major threat to world order today. While US power is a reality that has to be frankly faced, its mixture of deluded self-righteousness and genuine altruism make it ambiguous.'

'As is well known, President Bush gets much of his support from a particular Christian constituency with a distinctive slant on what's happening in the world today, based on biblical prophecy. This is a misreading of the Bible. The Left Behind series of novels which interprets current events in the light of biblical prophecies has now sold more than 55 million copies. Based on what is termed 'pre-millennialism', whereby we are now going through a series of woes before the second coming of Christ and the advent of his 1,000-year reign on earth, the establishment of the state of Israel and US policy play key roles.'

'In fact, the Book of Revelation, on which millions in the United States draw for this kind of theological foundation for its imperial ambitions, is strongly anti-imperial in its thrust; it reveals the God-usurping function at the heart of all empires.'

THE REPORT

Excerpts from the Church of England House of Bishops' report 'Countering Terrorism: Power, Violence and Democracy Post 9/11':

The violence of religion

'In reflecting on the Christian response to the patterns of violence that characterise our world at present, there is always the risk that the weight of ethical argument might blind us to a further difficult aspect of the picture: the role of religious faith in general and the religions in particular, in fomenting and then sustaining or even extending, the violence.'

'This danger is increased for Christians in the West if they hear constant reference to "Muslim fundamentalists", "Islamic extremists" or "militant Islamists", and that "orthodox" (Jewish) "parties" in Israel are the principal obstruction to peace.'

'Such language implies that it is only other people’s religion that increases the violence of the world, never our own.'

'... From the point of view of others, however, it needs to be recognised that Christianity is not always seen as a benign influence in world affairs, always on the side of peace, nor has it historically always been so.'

'The traditions of all the major world faiths contain injunctions to peacemaking and peaceable living. But they contain much else too, of a much more warlike character.'

'The stories of Exodus and of the invasion of the Promised Land, the exclusive claims of Israel’s God and his command to destroy all traces of enemy cultures and religions, and the brightly coloured images of apocalypse, whether in Mark 13 or in the Book of Revelation have all at various times inspired the violence which lies below the surface of much religious language and practice.'

'Even when war itself is not the topic, religious faith has an ambiguous relationship with anger and its manifestation, a spiritual issue of great difficulty. Among religious people, not least among those who are the public representatives of faith, are more than a fair share of those who try to use their religion to keep their rage under control, but find themselves at critical points making it the vehicle on which their anger travels. Moral outrage and righteous indignation, perhaps especially when the conviction is strongest that the cause is just, can be immensely violent in themselves. It can generate and stir up violence in others.'

'From Herod at Christ’s birth (Mathew 2:16) to Caiaphas at his trial (Mathew 26:65) there has been too much evidence for us to ignore that the realities of power and jealousy cloak themselves in the language and
arguments of religion, and the religion then enhances rather than quenches the energies of hatred.'

APOLOGISING FOR THE WAR - AND MORE...

As widely reported, the House of Bishops document also suggests a public apology, by the Church, for the war in Iraq:

'[I]f there is not to be collusion with what has gone before, there needs to be a clear public recognition of the way that the West has contributed to the present tragic situation. This is not to ignore the nature of the regime itself but is it to recognize that there is a long litany of errors in the West’s handling of Iraq that need to be remembered.'

'These include: its support for Saddam Hussein over many years as a strategic ally against Iran; its willingness to sell him weapons; its willingness in particular to sell him components for weapons of mass destruction; its failure to distance itself from his regime in its use of chemical weapons against Iran and the Kurds; the suffering caused to the Iraqi people by sanctions, and the fact that the recent war against Iraq appeared to be as much for reasons of American national interest as it was for the well-being of the Iraqi people.'

'Governments are not likely publicly to acknowledge such factors, let alone express remorse for them. But here in particular there might be a role for the churches.'

'There are three recent precedents. There are the official statements by the Vatican expressing sorrow for the responsibility of Christians in the persecution of Jews down the ages. Another powerful example is the way in which Nippon Seiko-kai, the Anglican Church in Japan, expressed public sorrow and repentance for its complicity in Japanese aggression during World War II. Yet another is the action by leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa for their theological and political support for apartheid.'

'These indicate that it is possible for institutions to take responsibility for their corporate action in the past, not in order to make individual Christians today feel guilty but as a mature, public act of institutional repentance. In relation to Iraq, it might be possible for there to be a public gathering, well prepared in advance, at which Christian leaders meet with religious leaders of other, mainly Muslim, traditions, on the basis of truth and reconciliation, at which there would be a public recognition of at least some of the factors mentioned above.'

... IN ORDER TO CARRY ON WITH THE WAR

What has been less well-reported is that this public apology is intended to secure greater support for the continuation of the occupation. Immediately before this section quoted, the House of Bishops write:

'Those who strongly opposed the recent war against Iraq, including the majority of the House of Bishops of the Church of England, find themselves in a particular dilemma.'

'Withdrawing from Iraq as quickly as possible, leaving the Iraqi people to govern themselves is a proper objective. On the other hand to pull out of Iraq precipitously would be irresponsible. The country might quickly disintegrate into a vicious civil and religious war.'

'Staying there, however, can give the impression both of supporting a long term American presence and also of colluding with the military action in the first place.'

'A way through this dilemma, with its possible practical implications, is suggested along the following lines... it is right, even apart from the question of responsibility, to stay in Iraq until such a [democratic] regime can be secured.'

'However, if there is not to be collusion with what has gone before, there needs to be a clear public recognition of the way that the West has contributed to the present tragic situation...'

Say sorry for supporting Saddam, for sanctions, and for the war, then carry on with the war.

US POWER AND THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT

Among other topics (the Iran crisis, civil liberties in Britain, democracy in the Middle East) the House of Bishops also criticises the theological basis for the Christian Right's brand of politics, which they recognise is very significant in the United States.

ISLAMO-CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION AND BEYOND

Which brings us finally to a very interesting article in today's Independent by the former editor Andreas Whittam-Smith, who says that the most important book around at the moment is the clumsily-titled The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization by Richard W. Bulliet.

Islam and Christianity share many scriptures and have an intertwined and often parallel history (until the 15th century), which means that they can be considered parts of one civilization, rather as Catholicism and Protestantism are parts of one religion, argues Bulliet.

This seems an eminently sensible approach, given the critical role of Islamic cultures in preserving, enriching and transmitting much of Greek and Roman culture, creating the basis for modern Western European civilization.

Of course this can be extended to thinking of Judaeo-Christian-Islamic civilization (Karen Armstrong seems to use the word 'monotheism' to refer to this as a single tradition). Furthermore, there seems to be a basis for extending the roots of Romano-Greek civilization back to Egypt (and/or the Middle East), as the Greeks themselves did.

SNIPPETS

COVERT OPERATIONS - RUSSIA

Following on the Naima Bouteldja article in the Guardian on claims that the Algerian secret police instigated the 1995 Paris bombings blamed on 'Islamic extremists', the FT has an intriguing small news in brief from Associated Press today (page 8 but not online):

'Russian authorities yesterday reimprisoned a lawyer who had investigated the alleged role of Russian security services in a series of apartment bombings in 1999, which were part of the Kremlin's justification for sending troops to breakaway Chechnya.'

'Authorities blamed Chechen rebels, but some observers said they suspected security officials of staging the bombings, which killed about 300 people, as a pretext for launching the Chechen war.'

'Mikhail Trepashkin, former security service officer turned lawyer, who was released last month after serving just under half of his four-year sentence for revealing state secrets, was detained at his home in Moscow, his lawyer Yelena Lipster said.'

There is a website about the Trepashkin case.

JNV welcomes feedback.