Catholic Church and Islam

Rev. Fr. A. Norom, Ph.D.

It is a promising development that the Church is beginning to show robust solidarity with persecuted Christians, especially in Islamic countries and in those with large Muslim populations. One would have thought that to be the primary mission of the numerous Vatican nuntiatures/embassies in Islamic nations. After all a nuncio (ambassador) is supposed to be the "messenger" of the good news in the country to which he is accredited. Unfortunately, as a Cathoilic priest who lost an older brother and three cousins to Islamic fanatics, I and millions of Christians in developing countries, have often felt abandoned by our co- religionists in the West, the possible exception being some US Evangelicals who have often been very openly and strongly supportive.

In the face of militant Islam, persecuted Christians feel so helpless and hopeless. Even in Egypt, an acclaimed ally of the US, Christian persecution is common. The Copts, the original inhabitants of the land, are often murdered, their churches, homes and property destroyed. On a visit to that country, the ideological "fountainhead" of Islamism, in 1996, a Coptic priest at St. Sargius Church, arguably the "oldest" Christian church in the world, took me aside and whispered into my ears: "You see how dilapidated this church is? We are not allowed by the government to repair it or to build new churches. Please, tell American Christians of our sufferings." And since there is really no traditional Christian strategy developed to respond to Islamic oppression and violence, persecuted Christians are often unable to defend themselves when attacked by Muslim mobs. This spiritual and social weakness is either a product of a false interpretation of the biblical mandate to"turn the other cheek" or an unhealthy residue of a passive and pacifist Christianity inherited from Western missionaries. Perhaps it is as a result of the still powerful societal religious influence found in Islamic societies and the secularist and agnostic ethos of post-modern Western man. Indeed this "religious gap" has policy implications: In their dealings with the West, Muslim leaders and diplomats seek the religious advantage. Westerners often care less about the faith or fate of other Christians who still wrongly see them as "fellow Christians." There is a need to develop a holistic Christian theological and political strategy to counter pro- Islamic secularism in the West and the global anti- Christian Islamism of Muslim countries.

Abandoned by the West, the persecuted church is often compelled to view global Christianity as a "weak" religion in comparison with a militant global Islam that sees itself as a community, which is manifested in instant show of solidarity, especially in times of crisis. The activities of foreign Islamic warriors (mujahideen) in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Kashmir represent the military aspect of this show of oneness.

The attitude of US and Western governments is called Christianaphobia.It is disdain and/or even hatred of Christianity and is traditionally submissive to Muslim interests.This is evident in their interventions to save Muslims in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Macedonia erc.and in Clinton's willingness to bomb the Christian Serbs into the stone age in order to liberate Muslim Kosovars. It may also be seen in the handling of the Palestinian and southern Sudanese selfdetermination struggles: While Palesitinian terrorism and anti- Americanisn has been rewarded with billions of dollars worth of humanitarian and development aid, as well as the convocation of numerous failed peace conferences, for about fifty years, southern Sudanese Christians were abandoned to the genocidal and Arabization policies of the Islamist governments in Khartoum. To his credit, however, Bush is the only US president (indeed the only Western leader) to have used America's power and influence to stop the slaughter of the southern Christians, the continuing tragedy of the African Muslims of Darfur notwithstanding. Another possible exception to Western pro- Islamic sympathies is East Timor, where the predominantly Muslim Indonesian government had already wiped out about one third of the overwhelmingly Christian people before external intervention. Yet, it was neither the US nor Europe that led the way; it was rather the insertion of Australian and UN troops that stopped the massacre of the East Timorese- albeit with Euro- American blessing.

Consequently, I think the time is ripe for Christians worldwide to be united in the struggle for religious freedom in Islamic countries. The demand for such freedom should be unequivical, especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, two countries that have consumed so many American lives and resources. It wiould indeed be tragic for America's sons and daughters to have shed their blood to install Islamic republics that persecute their Christian minorities and reject Christian evangelization. It is also unacceptable for Christian missionaries to be barred from Islamic states while Muslim clerics take over the streets of London, Amsterdam and Marseille. In this regard American Christians, citizens of the world's sole superpower, should confront Saudi Arabia and Iran, the two major sources of Islamic propaganda and militancy. In conjunction with US diplomatic pressure, they should show their opposition to both nations' treatment of Christians, women and other minorities, by engaging in regular protests at the Saudi embassy and at the Iranian interests section in Washington, DC. Both countries should also be condemned for denying basic religious and civil rights to millions of their citizens and residents, while festering the globe with the Islamist ideology. If they fail to comply, they should be given pariah status like apartheid South Africa. Rather than support the impostion of sanctions on Israel, the only true democracy and ally of the US in the Middle East, American Christian denominations should focus their ire on the repressive Muslim regimes that persecute their co- religionists in the region. This should be the era of religious reciprocity.

But bringing religious freedom to the Middle East and to other Islamic countries will not be easy. The closest historical parrallel is the abolition of the slave trade, which the West found extra difficult to achieve in the Middle East and in Islamic countries. For just as it took a Christian movement in Britain to pressure the government to end the human traffic, so will it take a similar Christian movement in the US to bring democracy to the Middle East. And just as it took the power of the British military, the only superpower in the mid- 19th century, to force the despotic and dynastic rulers of those Islamic countries to accept change, so it will be in the 21st century: Only through a carrot and stick approach- US diplomacy enabled by necessary force- will religious freedom and true democracy emerge in the Middle East.

American Christian churches face a major obstacle to the realization of the freedom enterprise. It includes (a) the inability to redefine the concept and practice of "dialogue" within mainline churches to include the protection of the rights of Christians in Muslim countries in Muslim countries and not only those of Muslims in the West. This has led them to view any non- politically correct opinion of dialogue as "intolerance" and, therefore, unworthy of being expressed in their churches. (b) the refusal to teach non- politicaly correct views of Islam in Sunday schools (most churches do not even include Islam in their classes) to counter the Islamist propaganda taught in most high schools and universities.

Finally, American Christians should realize that the promotion of religious freedom in the Middle East is tied to their own peace and security at home. They should abandon their moral relativist approach to the region and see the promotion of religious freedom as the foreign policy ethical challenge of our age- as slavery was to the British in the 19th century. And hopefully, the "iron curtain" of Islamist propaganda that has fallen on most mainline churches will be lifted some day. The new and more assertive tone of the Catholic Church could not have been heard at a more auspicious time.

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